' 


RALBIGH: 


NICHOLS & GORMAN, BOOK AND JOB: PRINTERS. 


MDCG@CLX VII. 








Digitized by the Internet Archive _ 
~ in 2022 with funding from 
Duke University Libraries 








~~ 


In KNlemoriam. 


ION. JOHN M. MOREHEAD, 


noone See 


RALEIGH: 


‘ NICHOLS & GORMAN, BOOK AND JOB PRINTERS. 
MDCCCLXVITI. 





ae) . MAUI Ore TAM. 


From the Greensboro’ {N, C.) Patriot, September, 1865. 


DEATH OF GOV. MOREHEAD—TOWN MERTING. 


On receipt of the intelligence of the death of Gov. 
MoreneEAD, a meeting of citizens was called by Mayor 
Eckel, in the Court-House, on the evening of the 29th, at 
which Ralph Gorrell, Lyndon Swaim and John Long were 
appointed a committee to draft resolutions suitable to the 
occasion; and a committee of fifteen, to-wit: Richard 


Sterling, W. A. Caldwell, D. F. Caldwell, James Jones, 
M. D. Smith, A. G. Brenizer, J. W. Albright, W. D. 
Trotter, J. Hildesheimer, Dr. J. Q. Beasley, Peter Adams, 
J. R. May, R. M. Sloan, David Scott, and Dr. A. C. Cald- 
well, to wait at the railroad station, at 3 o’clock in the 
morning, receive the remains, and attend them to the fam- 
ily residence. 


On the morning of the 30th, at 9 areola, the meeting 
_ re-assembled, and, in the unavoidable absence of Mr. Gor- 
rell, chairman of the committee appointed to draft resolu- 
tion, Mr. Swaim offered the resolutions below, prefaced 
f _ by remarks, as follows: 


In consideration of the eminent position occupied by our 
deceased fellow-townsman—his ageand publicservices—we 
owe fitting public demonstration of respect to his remains 
and to his memory. His force of character, and talents as 
_ a popular orator, would have made him a “man of mark” 
in any age or country. These characteristics, we know, 
were largely directed, throughout his life, to patriotic pur- 
- poses, and entitled him to the public gratitude. His life 





Tee 


and fellow-citizen, the Hon. Jonn M. Moreupap —we 























4 IN MEMORIAM. 


illustrated the history of our State for many years, p 
cularly in the public improvements thereof, which hay 
added so much to the substantial advancement and pros- 
perity of the people. More, perhaps, than that of any 
other man, has his wonderful energy for many years per- 
vaded and extended the iron fibres of our system of Stat 
improvements. . 

For the last forty years he has been more or less in pub- 
lic life—most of the time where the interests of the whole 
State occupied his mind. For forty years and more his 
hours of social leisure have been passed among the citizens 
of this town and county. Most of his town cotemporarie es 
of forty years ago have passed away. Now his time has 
come. His cenial smile, and mellow laugh, and sparkling 
humor will cheer the circle of his neighbors no more, 
And how painful the void in his household, where is” 
cheerful and kindly spirit was like continual sunshine! 

But we do not assemble now to listen to an eulogy upo 
his life—to draw lessons from his frailties or to laud his” 
virtues. We come to bury him: to perform the last sad 
office of neighbors and friends and fellow-citizens to the 
mortal remains of JoHN M. Moreneap; to commit his” 
spirit to our common Lord and Father, Him. 


“Who sees with equal eye, as Lord of all, 
The hero perish and the sparrow fall;’ 


+] 


In whose hands are the issues of life and death for every q 
one of His children. May the dead rest in peace, and the 
living lay it to heart. 

Inasmuch, as it has pleased the great Disposer of all 
events, after a protracted illness to call from time to eter-| 
nity our much esteemed and highly respected townsman 


deem it meet and appropriate to give this publie expres — 
sion of our sense of his many virtues, and of our profound” 
sorrow at the loss which we have sustained by his death; 
therefore— 


‘i 
Resolved, That we deeply deplore the loss, in him, of one of our 
oldest and most valuable and useful citizens—that, as a tribute of 
respect to his memory, we recommend that all places of business | 
shall be closed and all business suspended in town, from 9 o'clock es 

morrow until the close of the funeral services. 

Resolved, That we will attend his burial and perform for him the 
last sad offices of the living to the dead, by committing his mortal re- 
mains to the grave, till God shall bid them rise. 





HON. JOHN M. MOREHEAD. , 5 


.. ; 
Resolved, That we sincerely sympathise with the bereaved family of 
our departed friend, in this afllictive visitation of Divine Providence, 
_ and assure them of our fellowship in their sorrows. 


Resolved, 'That a copy of these resolutions be forwarded to the widow 
and family of the deceased, and also copies for publication in the 
town paper. 


The resolutions were unanimously adopted. 

The committee having the body in charge reported that 
‘the funeral will take place, from the residence of the de- 
“ceased, on to-morrow, the 31st, at 10 o’clock, and reported 
the following named citizens as pall-bearers: Dr. Wim. 
ia Holt, of Lexington; Hon. James Ruffin, of Alamante; 
A. S$. Buford, of Virginia; and John A. Gilmer, Ralph 
Gorrell, David Scott, oie Adams, Robert M. Sloan, 
Richard Sterling, A. P. Eckel, of Greensboro’. 

4 A. P. ECKEL, Ch’mn. 
RB. Steruine, Sec’y. 


















From the Greensboro Patriot, 


THE DEATH OF GOV. MOREHEAD—MEETING 
OF THE BAR OF GUILFORD COUNTY. 


BA meeting. of the Bar of Guilford county was held on 
Tuesday of the Term of the Superior Court now in ses- 
sion, in the Court-fHouse; present, Judge D. G. Fowle and 
avery full attendance of the members of the profession - 
and many citizens. 

“The meeting was called to order by Judge Kerr, on 
whose motion Ralph Gorreli, Hsq., was called to the 
Chair, and John H. Dillard and Wm. L. Scott selected as 
Peeretaries. Judge Kerr then said it was his melancholy 
d luty to announce to the mecting the death of —_ late 








6 5 IN MEMORIAM. 




























professional brother, Jouy M. Morrnead, and moved fl 
appointment of a committee of three to prepare a serie 
resolutions expressive of the sense of the members of 
Bar in the loss which they had sustained; and the mo 
being concurred in, the Chairman appointed Judge 
Thomas Ruffin, Jr.,'and J. R. McLean as the commit 
The committee after an absence of a few minutes 
turned and through Judge Kerr, their Chairman, report 
the following preamble and resolutions: ; ; 


adn the month of August last by a melancholy dispen 
tion of Divine Providence, North Carolina, im the deat 
of Joon M. Morenean, was bereaved of one of her m 
enterprising and patriotic statesman, and the Bar of Gu 
ford of its oldest and most distinewished member, its orn 
ment and object of its just pride. 

For many years he was the acknowledged leader in 
circuit in which he practised, and for industry and energy 
in the preparation of his cases, and ability im the argue 
ment of them, especially to the Jury, he was never sur 
passed by any man we have known. g 

To his general ability as an advocate and lawyer, he 
united the higher attractions of an amiable temper, a une 
form courtesy in his intercourse with his brethren, and to 
the Junior members of the Bar was kind, bey ond the de- 
a of mere professional fellowship, exhibiting at all 
times a generous sympathy with them in their efforts 
rise ti, their calling, causing them to feel that his was no 
calculating friendship, but the genuine fruit of a noble na 
ture, too exalted for the indulgence of envy and too ¢ con- 
scious of its own real power to fear the competition of 
others. 

Asa statesman his name is indissolubly associated with 
those of the most venerable and illustrious sons of Nor 
Carolina: his most enduring monument are her great wor 
of benevolence and Internal Improvements which his g 
nius did so much to originate and permanently establish. 

In the fullness of his years he was taken from life, le 
ing to us as a rich inheritance the fruits of his labors 
the public good, and the memory of his ennobling examplh 
The results of his public services belong in common to us 
all: his example as a lawyer is the especial her itage of his 


. 


QO 





er a = CS Maton cee ee 


HON. JOHN M. MOREHEAD. 


brethren of the Bar, who keeping it in constant memory 
_ will rise by its influence to higher degrees of attainment 
and a more dignified hearing within and without the foren- 


sic circle. 


Resolved, That our hearts are in full sympathy with the people of 
_ North Carolina generally, in their deep feelings of sorrow for the loss 
of JoHN M. MorEHEAD, and especially do we condole with the widow 
-and children and other relatives of our distinguished brother in their 
great bereavement, and we most respectfully tender to them the as- 
Surances of our anxious wishes for their future continual welfare and 

_ happiness. 
| Resolved, That the Honorable Thomas Settle, the Solicitor for this 
' €ireuit, be requested at the meeting of the court ae present these re- 
solutions to his Honor, the presiding Judge, and ee that they be 

‘spread upon the Records of the Court. 


' These resolutions, after very interesting addresses from 
the Hon. John Kerr, Hon. R. P. Dick, Hon. J. R. Me- 
)Lean and Hon. Thos. Ruffin, were unanimously adopted, 
and it, was ordered by the meeting that they be published 
in The Greensboro’ Patriot, and a copy of the same sent to 
‘the widow of Gov. Moreneap. 

RALPH GORRELL, Cl’mn. 


Joun H. Ditiarp, | 


Bia L. Score, {| Secretaries. 
ae 4. + : 


Mr. Settle, on presenting the above resolutions, and ask- 


ine that they be recorded in the Minutes of the Court. 


accompanied them with the following remarks: 


May it please your Honov: Iwas directed by a mecting 
the Bar held here on yesterday to lay before your Honor 
the resolutions of that meeting, with the request that they 
be spread upon the Minutes of your Honor’s Court. ; 
Tinherited, may it please your Honor, reverence and 
respect for Gov. MorEHEAD, and I trust that I shall be 
dulged while I recite a few of the many incidents of his 
entful life. He was born in Pittsylvania county, Vir- 
@inia, ‘on the fourth day of July, 1796. His parents re- 





o's) 


IN MEMORIAM. 


moved to Rockingham county, North Carolina, when he r 
was two years of age. They were not slow in discover- 
ing that Providence had lavished her bounties upon their 
child, and although in very moderate circumstances, they 4 
determined to develop by cdueation his great mental — 
powers. ut 











Tn those days I learn that it was a rare thing to meet mm 
Rockingham a man who had studied Latin,andsuchathing 7 
as a classical school was unheard of. For the want of a | 
better instructor in 1810-’11, old Ma. Morehead placed _ 
his son JOHN with his neighbor and friend, my father, who — 
had studied Latin and Greek for a few months at Caswell | 
Court House, and had just obtained a license to practise | 
law; and there, between the teacher and his solitary stu- 
dent, commenced a friendship and intimaey which death | 
alone terminated. He went from my father’s care to that — 
of the Rey. Dr. Caldwell, of Guilford county, where he 
was prepared for College. He joined the Senior Class, 
and here at College as well as at Dr. Caldwell’s, he dis- 
played those saine traits of character which afterwards 
marked his life. At school and college he at once marehed 
to the head of his class, and such was his proficiency in 
the languages, that he was taken from the Senior Class 
when half advanced and made a Tutor in the University, 
and at the Commencement in 1817, when his class gradu- 
ated, the faculty awarded him a diploma. Shortly there- 
after he commenced the study of law with the Hon. Arehi- 
bald D. Murphy, and obtained a license to practise in June, | 
1819, and settled in Wentworth, the County Seat of Rock- | 
ingham, where he soon obtained a full practice. In 1821, — 
he was elected to the House of Commons from Rocking- § 
ham, and shortly thereafter, upon his marriage with Ann 
Kliza, the daughter of the late Col. Robert Lindsay, he ‘ 
removed to Guilford, the place of his residence until his # 
death. In 1826-27, he represented Guilford county in the 


| 


| 


——————e 


HON. JOHN M. MOREHEAD. 9 


House of Commons. From this period until 1840, he de- 
yoted himself to the practice of his profession, in which he 
was the acknowledged leader in all the courts he attended. 

In 1840, as the Whig candidate for Governor, he con- 
ducted a campaign against the Hon.-R. M. Saunders as the 
Democratic candidate, which was marked by great ability 
on both sides, and is remembered and spoken of to this 
day as a battle of giants. The result was, his triumphant — 
election. For his second term he was opposed by a gen- 
tleman of no ordinary ability, the late Louis D. Henry, 
but again, as on all previous and subsequent occasions, 
when a candidate, he proved to be the favorite of the peo- 
ple. Upon the expiration of his term of office as Governor, 
he devoted himself to his private affairs, and only came 
before the people to plead for great works of internal im- 
provement and objects of charity and benevolence, until 
1858-9, when he again represented Guilford in the House 
of Commons. It was at that session that I realized the 
the fact which I had often heard from others, that 
JouN M. Moreunap was the greatest man the State of 
North Carolina had ever produced. At that session he 
and his plans of internal improvement were made an ob- 


_ ject of vigorous attack by men of much ability. For a 


time the attack seemed overwhelming, and Gov. More- 


_ upap’s friends feared that he would not be able to repel it. 


For five days he sat and received it in silence, but when 
he rose and as he proceeded with his defence, friend, foe 


fand every body else was struck with amazement. We 


could scarcely realize the fact that any man possessed such 


| powers of argument and of eloquence. 


His vindication was so complete that even his assailants 
openly acknowledged it. 
_ In 1860 he represented Guilford in the Senate, and was 
one of the Commissioners from North Carolina to the 
Peace Congress at Washington. He was a member of the 


IN MEMORIAM. 





Confederate Congress. It can be truthfully said of him — 
that he never sought office; indeed he seems to have had — 
an aversion to holding office. I suppose that Gov. Morn- | 
HEAD has left but little written material from which his — 
history can be gathered; he never spoke or wrote for dis- 
play, but always to accomplish some object, and we haye ~ 
only to look at North Carolina to read his history. We 
read it in her works of Internal Improvement from the 
mountains to the sea-board. 

You cannot look at your magnificent institutions for the é 
care and protection of your deaf, dumb, blind and i insta 
without remembering the eloquent efforts of JoHN M. 
MoreEHEAD in their behalf. 4 

North Carolina has produced some few men who were 
doubtless the superiors of Gov. MorEHEAD in certain de-— 
partments. Judge Pearson, Judge Ruffin and Mr. Badger 
were, I suppose, his superiors in legal learning. Perhaps — 
others were more accurate in political information, but tak- 
ing him all in all, he was by far the greatest man that — 
North Carolina has ever produced. His private life is as — 
well worthy of imitation as his public life. He was a man _ 
of the strictest morality. He took a bright view of life, — 
was happy and contented himself and tried to make others 
so. I well remember an expression used by him, the last 
time I saw him. The conversation had turned for some 
time upon the troubles which now surround our country, — 
when Gov. MoreHEAD dismissed the subject with the re 
mark, that “I was always a great Providence man; I leave — 
all these things to Providence, well assured that he will” 
bring good out of it yet.” It was doubtless that pi 
that made him all that he was. 

Inow ask your Honor to direct that the resolutions 
passed by the bar be spread upon the Minutes of this” 
Court. a 


HON. JOHN M. MOREHEAD. 


From the Patriot. 


THE LATE GOVERNOR MOREHEAD. 


Ata large assemblage of citizens of the County of Rock- 
ingham, convened at Wentworth on the 30th of October 
1866, being Tuesday of Superior Court, on motion Dr. 
li. T. Brodnax was appointed Chairman, and Jones W. 
Burton, Esq., and Maj. W. 8. Allen were requested to act 
as Seerctarics ; 

When Gen. A. M. Seales explained the object of the 
meeting to be to adopt resolutions expressive of the deep 
regret of the citizens of the county at their loss in the 
death of their late county-man, Jonn M. Morennap. 
Gen. Scales concluded by giving a few thrilling incidents 
connected with the late eminent deceased. 

On motion made and seconded, the Chairman appointed 
Gen. A. M. Scales, Col. F. Watkins and M. D. King, Esq., 
a committee to draft resolutions expressive of the sense of 
the meeting. The committee retired for that purpose. In 
the absence of the committee, J oseph Holderby, Esq., ad- 
dressed the mecting as follows: 

Mr. Cuatrman:—I do not design making any extended 
remarks in relation to the life and character of the distin- 
guished personage to whose memory this meeting has con- 
vened for the purpose of paying a last tribute of respect. 
But as my acquaintance commenced with the deceased 
more than half a century since, I ask permission to relate 
a few of the more prominent incidents of his life, which I 
_ do more for the purpose of giving some able eulogist facts, 
_ than with a view of adding any thing to the character of 
| the illustrious personage whose loss the whole country 
_ mourns. it  ’ 

It has-been published in some of the papers, that Gov. 
_ Morennap was a native of this county; this is a mistake; 





IN MEMORIAM. 


he was a native of the County of Pittsylvania, Virginia, 
where he was born on the fourth day of July 1796. Hi 


ty- is ee uae old. 

At an early age he eomeneakent going to school, whidhil 
he continued to do until he graduated at the University of 
North Carolina in the year 1817; soon after, he com- 
menced the study of law with Judge Murphy, and obtain- 
ed license in 1819, and settled at this place, where, with- 
out any apparent effort on his part, he soon entered upon — 
a lucrative practice, notwithstanding he had to compete 
with intellects such as those possessed by a Ruffin, a Mur- 
phy, a Settle and a Yancey. , 

He was elected to the House of Commons from this. 
County in the year 1821, and in the year 1822 removed 
to the County of Guilford and settled in Greensboro’, the 
place of his residence at the time of his death. At differ-— 
ent times, though not desiring it, he was sent from Guil- 
ford to one or the other branches of the Legislature; and 
in the year 1840, in the great contest between Harrison 
and Van Buren, he was selected by his party as their 
leader, Gen. R. M. Saunders being his competitor for” 
Governor of the State. Up to this time Gov. MoreHEAD- 
had paid but little attention to national polities, and con- 
sequently combatted so formidable an adversary at a dis 
advantage; but, notwithstanding, at the close of the cam- 
paign, it appeared he had defeated his distinguished and_ 
eloquent rival by a majority of more than eight thousand | 
votes. Two years after, he was opposed by the Hon. L. 
D. Henry, a gentleman of great ability, whom he also de-— 
feated, and closed his last term as Governor in the winter” 
of 1844. From this time Goy. Morrennap turned his at 
tention more particularly to his private affairs, which he 





q 
Mn 






HON. JOHN M. MOREHEAD. 13 


continued to do until the commencement of our late 
troubles, when he was elected to the Confederate Congress, 
in which body he served two years, and was never again 
a candidate for any office. 

I will, sir, close my hasty and imperfect sketch by say- 


ing, that Gov. MorEHEAD was the most remarkable man 


it has ever been my fortune to know. All who knew him 
admit that he was a man of transcendant ability; and 


while he never attached himself to any Church, he was 


d 


regarded by those who knew him best, as a man of singu- 
lar purity of character; and it may well be said of him 
what Shakespeare makes Anthony say of Brutus— 


His life was gentle, and the clements 
So mixed in him, that nature might stand up, 
And say to all the world, *‘Zhis was a man.” 
North Carolina will long, long cherish his memory as 
her great benefactor. 
T hope, sir, that this meeting will appoint a committee 


whose duty it shall be to select some one to deliver an 


§ 


eulozy upon the life and character of the deceased, on 
Tuesday of our next May Court, who will be able to do 
justice to his exalted merits. . 
The committee now returned, and reported through 
their Chairman, Gen. Scales, the following resolutions: 
Resolved, That the citizens of Rockingham county have heard with 


deep sorrow, of the death of their former distinguished county-man, 
JouN M. Moren=apD, who for nearly half a century devoted much 


| of his time to the subject of Internal Improvement, and in endeayor- 


a 


4 


Be 


Fi 


cy 


| 


at 


ing to develope the resources of North Carolina. 

Resolved, ‘That in his death the State has sustained an irreparable 
Joss, but we must all bow in humble submission to the will of God 
“‘who doeth all things well.” 

Resolved, That we deeply sympathize with his bereaved widow, with 


his children and other relatives. 
i 


Resolved, That the Chairman of this meeting appoint a committee 
whose duty it shall be to select a speaker to deliver at this place, on 
Tuesday of our next May Court, a eulogy upon the life and charae- 
ter of the deceased. 

Resolved, That the family of the deceased be furnished with a copy 
of these proceedings, and that the editor of The Greenshoro’ Patriot be 
requested to publish the same. 





IN MEMORIAM. 


All of which resolutions were adopted by acclamati 

In obedience to the 4th resolution, the Chairman appo 
ed Gov. Reid, Gen. Scales and Joseph Holderby, Esq 
committee to select a speaker, who forthwith reported - 
they had chosen Judge Kerr. The Judge being inforn 
of his selection, consented to deliver the address on Tues- 
day of May County Court next. 

After the reading of the resolutions, Judge Kerr a 
Gov. Reid being called upon, delivered short but n 
eloquent and thrilling speeches. 

On motion, the mecting then adjourned. 

E. T. BRODNAX, Chm’n. 

Jones W. Burton ; 


WS. Arun, ; t Secretaries. 





A TENT 


ON THE 


Life and Character of John M. Morehead, | 


LATE GOVERNOR OF NORTH CAROLINA, 


DELIVERED AT WENTWORTH, ON TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 26TH, 1867, BEFORE THE MEMBERS 
OF THE BAR, AXD THE CITIZENS OF THE COUNTY OF ROcKINGHAM, 
AT THEIR REQUEST, BY 


Bee GE INT 1 Ip Ee INT (fee ey ER ER 


OF CASWELL COUNTY. 








CORRESPONDENCE. 


WeENtTWorTH, February 26th, 1867. 
_ At amecting of the citizens and members of the Bar 
this day held in the Court House in Wentworth, on mo- 
tion Robert B. Watt, Esq., was called to the Chair. 
| Hon. J. R. McLean offered the following resolutions: 


Resolved, That the thanks of this meeting be tendered to the Hon. 
_ John Kerr, for his able and eloquent Address upon the life and char- 
acter of the late Gov. Joun M. MorEeu@EAD, and that he be requested 

_ to furnish a copy of the same for publication. 


__ Resolved, That the Hon. A. M. Scales, Geo. L. Aiken, Esq., Dr. E. 
_ T. Brodnax, Hon. D. 8S. Reid and John H. Dillard, Esq., be appoint- 
iy 4 a ea tittes to communicate the proceedings of this meeting to 
_ Mr. Kerr. : 


Which were unanimously adopted. 
ROBERT B. WATT, Ch’mn. 


| Hon. Joun Kerr: Sir: In obedience to the above 
| resolutions we have the honor and the pleasure to tender 
to you the thanks of all who heard your truly eloquent 
and appropriate Address this day delivered, and in the 








16 IN MEMORIAM. 






















name of the Bar and the community at large, we earnestly 
solicit a copy of the same for publication. Allow us to 
express our own gratification, and to add our solicitation n 
to that of the meeting. 

A. M. SCALES, 


D. 8. REID, 
GEO. L. AIKEN, 
Dr. E. T. BRODNAX, 
JOHN H. DILLARD, 


Wentwortu, February 26th, 1867. 

GENTLEMEN: Your note of this date accompanied with 
a copy of the proceedings of a meeting of the Bar, and 
citizens of the County of Rockingham, held this day n- 
Wentworth, has been received. The copy of my Address 
which you request me to furnish for publication shall be 
placed at your disposal in due time. 

I am deeply impressed with thankfulness to my br cthren- 
of the Bar, and to the people of Rockingham for the gen- 
erous spirit in which they received my humble effort to 
render a tribute of honor to the memory of one of the 
ereatest men our State has ever cherished or ever lost, and 
can but regret, that the tribute itself falls so far short 0 is 
doing justice to the merits of the illustrious subject to” 
which it refers. ‘ With high respect and warm regard, Iq 
remain your friend, and obedient servant, 

JOHN KERR. — 

Gen. A. M. Scales, David 8. Reid, George L. “a ¥ 

K. T. Brodnax, J ohn H. Dillar d, Committee. 








OR PAO N & 

“Great men are the guide posts and landmarks in the 
State. The eredit of such men, at court ane in the nation, 
is the sole cause of all the public measures.’ 
Such was the opinion of Burke, himself the eveatest 
statesman of Europe, at the brightest era of its statesmen. - 
It is sustained by the testimony of History and the re- 
flections of all well-informed minds. , 


‘cs F 


HON. JOHN M. MOREHEAD. 





We are forced to respect great men. Their influence 
for good or for evil is to a great extent irresistible. If 
they be virtuous we should likewise honor them, and thus 


| aid ¢hem, in their laudable aims, and incite others to imi- 


- 


tate their high examples. 

But great men reflect as wellas receive honor. States 
and Kingdoms are exalted, and rendered illustrious, by 
the talents and virtues of those whom they produce or 
whom they cherish. 

Old Greece and Rome have escaped oblivion only be- 
cause of the great men who are prominent in their an- 
nals—whose deeds impart life and immortality to their 
histories. 

History itself, when well written, is little else than the 
biographies of the master spirits who shape and direct the 
affairs of nations. Communities, large or small, must ever 
be indebted for respectability, and influence, chiefly, to the 


_ individuals of high moral and mental worth who may be 


identified with them. 

These reflections may lead us to appreciate properly the 
duties and proprieties of the present occasion. 

We are assembled to render homage to the talents and 
virtues, and respect to the memory of one of the most gift- 
ed sons of North Carolina. 

In the month of August last, Jonn Motte, MorEHEAD 
haying with eminent usefulness and fidelity served his gen- 
eration, like the old monarch of Israel, “fell on sleep, and 
was laid unto his fathers.” The State which nurtured 
him, and which he so long and so faithfully served, mourns 
him still with the unabating sorrow of a true maternal 
heart; and from every section in her boundaries, we have 
received unequivocal expressions of the high estimation in 


which he was held while living and of the deep sense of 


the loss she has sustained by his death. He was indeed 


her true representative man. His character was after the 


fine 





18 IN MEMORIAM. ’ 




























model of her own. He was great without ostenta 
His talents were useful rather than shining. He w 
ambitious, save of honors which sought him, or we 
tained without intrigue or base surrender to the im 
currents of popular sentiment. In fine, though her s 
only by adoption and nurture, he bore ker venerable in 
in a more striking development than any other one 
children. He was very dear to her heart, and she wa 
equally so to his. ° 
He was born, as is well known, in the adjoining county 
of Pittsylvania, State of Virginia, on the 4th day of Ji 
1796.. At a very early stage of his infancy his pa 
removed to this county and settled upon the waters of 1 
Dan. In.this immediate vicinity, among the people of 
county, he was brought up from the tender age of tf 
years, and is therefore to be regarded to all intents as 
son of Rockingham. Here his childhood, youth, and e¢ 
lier manhood were passed; and from the natural obje 
and social influences of this county, he derived his first 
lasting impressions of human life, arising outside of 1 
family circle, and here too his earliest friendships w 
formed, and the first displays were made of the tale 
and genius with which God had endowed him. 
It is peculiarly proper then that the people of Rocking 
ham should make known to the world, their high appre 
ation of his character, and aim to impress upon the 1 
of their sons, the lesson his successful life so striki 
teaches, and thus gather and garner, for the county 1 
harvest of honor he has sown, and perpetuate for 
children the inspiring influence of his example. 
The proper discharge of the service your kindness] 
assigned to me, requires that I shall present him to yi 
contemplation both in his private and public relations. 
A beneficent Providence confers upon the children 
men no earthly gift more precious, more inestimable, t 













HON. JOHN M. MOREHEAD. 19 


that of good parents,—parents who properly love and 
ightfully train their offspring under a deep sense of re- 
sponsibility to society and to God. This gift was vouch- 
safed to him of whom I now speak. 
He was the son of John Morehead, Esquire, late of this 
county, who was well known to some of the older persons 
now present. A prominent magistrate in his day, he was 
distinguished for his probity and his genial temper in his 
general intercourse—whilst in the family circle he was 
‘Yenerated and almost idolized for the playfulness, gentle- 
ness, and uniform loving kindness by which he constantly 
diffused the sun-rays of happiness on “the loved ones at 
1 ome.” 

_ His mother was Obedience Motley, a native of Virginia, 
as was his father also. His parents were united in mar- 
Tiage i in 1789, and he was their first born son who lived 
0 maturity,—and was their pride. From his mother he 
tnherited some of the most striking of his mental and 
moral features. Indeed, in a -ARJORTEY of cases, it is the 
mi other “that makes the man.” From her tones of voice, 
. eard in song and in colloquy, the infant catches his first 

sonceptions of gentleness and love, and from her precepts 
he e learns his first lessons of virtue or of vice; as influenced 
b y her, his tender and i impressible mind reaches upward to 
the high invitings of duty and religion, or inclines down- 
ward to the Circean stye of sloth and sensuality. These 
first impressions may in some instances be counteracted by 
the strong character of the father, and by other causes, 
but they are never entirely eradicated. Their effect upon 
the destiny of the child will be exhibited in degrees more 
or less striking throughout the entire course of life. 
‘The mother of my lamented friend was possessed of 
mental faculties of no ordinary cast, and of moral quali- 
which eminently fitted her to train her offspring for 
struggles of life. She was tender and affectionate, 


































20 } IN MEMORIAM. 


and won the hearts of her children. She was frugal 
industrious, and enforced these habits on them. She - 
strict in discipline, without being capricious or tyrani 
in her humors. She recognized the fifth commandmen 
fundamental in household government, and would nei 
excuse nor wink at the slightest disregard of its sac 
injunction. Her authority was maintained not by op 
ting on the servile fears of her children, but by the ma 
power of maternal love, in happy combination with ma- 
- ternal dignity. In the practical application of her system 
of government, a constant requisition of her children was 
that they should avoid bad company. 
When permitted to visit places of public resort on pub 
lic occasions, the length of time they could remain was. 
prescribed with exactness, and in no case were they allow: 
ed to linger about such places until the shades of depart 
ing day came on, when the prevalent habits of ‘the io 
rendered it certain that demoralizing exhibitions of intem- 
perance and other vices would oecur to contaminate thei 
young hearts and minds. And as they never went ‘— 
home without her approbation so they remained their a 
pointed time with cheerful selfapproving hearts and re 
turned to meet-a smiling face and receive the maternal 
kiss, and relate the incidents of their juvenile trayels to 
the ever-willing ears of their beloved parents. 
Can any picture be more attractive than this? A father 
and mother in the full fruition of connubial happiness — 
the children under strict but gentle and healthful discip- 
line—and all constituting a circle in which the father’s 
amiability and the mother’s assiduous and firm devotion to 
her duties, combine, to make it in the language of one who 
belonged to it, and was one of its brightest ornament 
“the happiest home circle ever known.” Yet they were 
not unacquainted with the visitings of adversity. The 
father experienced the pains and penalties of pecuni ; 


HON. JOHN M. MOREHEAD. 21 


embarrassment, but the wife and mother who partook with 
| gladness the joys of his prosperity submitted with patience 
| and cheerfulness to his reverse of fortune; and by uniting 
| diligence and indomitable energy, gr ae alleviated what 
"she could not entir ely remove;—aiding him by the sugges- 
q tions of her discriminating and calm judgment in his try- 
| ing struggles with the exigencies to which he was sub- 
jected. 
"Twas under such auspices, ‘that Joan M. Morrnean’s 
- childhood and early youth were passed. Could any have 
_ been better fitted to impart high moral forces to his char- 
| acter? 
But he was to be educated, and schools, except such as 
were of very interior grade, were unknown in the vicinity 
} in which he was brought up. 
‘ By whom he was first taught I know not. I have only 
_ been able to learn that he studied Latin for a short time, 
" with the friend of his early and his latter days—the late 
Judge Settle—that leaving him he was placed at the school 
of Dr. David Caldwell, by whom he was prepared for col- 
lege and from Dr. Caldwell’s school he went to the Uni- 
4 versity of our State, where he graduated in 1817 with dis- 
_ tinction. While at school in early boyhood he was dili- 
3 gent in his application to his books, to a degree that im- 
| paired his health, and forced his father to detain him at 
home frequently. “He submitted to these interruptions 
under strong pr Sua and returned always to his studies 
with redoubled vigor.” At college the same industry and 
| energy marked his course, and he there gave assurance of 
his future eminence by the laurels he won in competition 
| with such classmates as John Y. Mason of Virginia and — 
| James K. Polk of Tennessee. Leaving the University, 




















| he entered himself a student of law in the office of the. 
| late Judge Archibald D. Murphy a man of rare attain- 
| ments—of talents and’genius of the highest order. From 


99 IN MEMORIAM. : - 





















this eminent preceptor he learned in addition to the prin- ‘ 
ciples of the common law, much that enabled him to dis- 
play in his subsequent career, his consummate art and ad- 
dress as an advocate. “4 
Those who knew Goy. Moreseap intimately will Tey 
member his abiding fondness for and great admiration 0 f 
the gifted man with whom he studied for his profession. — n 
He delighted to speak of his efforts at the Bar, and often 
instructed while he amused the younger members of the 
profession with anecdotes illustrative of his varied powers 4 
Finishing his studies he was licensed and came to the har — 
at Rockingham in 1819. 7 
For the first three years of his professional life this vil 
lage was the place of his r e he formed | 
attachments, which aaa vidiectbtaes neither de q 
stroyed nor weakened. ; ‘a 
Among the friends of his early years, to whom I haye- 
heard him refer with affectionate warmth, was the late | 4 
Robert Galloway, the younger, with whom he lived during | 
his residence here on terms of a perfect union of hearts. 
He lamented his untimely death as a public calamity, and 
mourned it to the last as a personal bereavement. He 
loved him as a friend not only, but he esteemed him also” "1 
as a gentleman “fulfilled of nobleness, courtesy and hon- 
or” and with him was wont to “take sweet counsel” 
touching the duties of life. But death breaks the dearest 
ties of earth—yet it cannot separate forever the spirits of J 
congenial beings—who but begin in time, friendships and 
loves which continue through eternity. After a separa-_ 
tion of more than thirty years—these two friends have” q 
met again. an 
Goy. MoREHEAD, on coming to the Bar, soon obtained | 
a competent practice, became prominent and rapidly rose 
to eminence. When I entered the profession in 1832, 1 _ 
met him here at the May Term of the County Court, an 





. 





HON. JOHN M. MOREHEAD. 23 


- found him occupying the position of leader on his circuit. 


I was pleased with his appearance, was attracted by his 
amenity and fascinated by his talents. ; 

His personal presence was imposing, his face beamed 
with kindness, and when he addressed the court and jury, 
T heard him with delight and was filled with admiration. 
Then began with me an attachment to him which never 
ceased during his life, but which was strengthened by 
many tokens of kindness on his part, that were the more 
sensibly felt, because they were believed to be the offspring 
of sincere regard and not of calculating selfishness. 

While residing here he was elected in 1822 to the Leg- 
islature, and returned as one of the members of the House 
of Commons for this county. What role he played in that 
session I know not, but it is certain his talents and attain- 
ments were such as to secure him high position in such a 
body. In the same year another event in his life occur- 
red, which perhaps was the most potential in its influence 
on his subsequent career, of any that could have taken 
place. He was united in mrrriage to Eliza, the eldest 


_ daughter of the late Col. Robert Lindsay, of Guilford. 


Man with all his pretensions to dignity in the scale of 
being,—with his claim to superiority as “lord of this ter- 


_ restrial sphere,” is nevertheless in civilized society under 


amoral subserviency to woman. By the action of those 


influences which have their fountain in the Gospel Code, 


but which were brought out into prominent effective 


_ agency by the spirit and genius of the age of chivalry, 
woman has risen from a condition of quasi slavery to the 


height of sovereign Queen-Regnant in the hearts of men, 
and her sway for good 6r for evil is next to irresistible. 
To be happily married, therefore, is a blessing of God, 
the richest in enjoyment and benefits of any that has been 
allowed our race since the fall. The affectionate respect 
of a wife for her husband—her glad participation of the 























suggestions in adversity—her countless ministratio 
love, in sickness and in sorrow,—these, these, constit 
the elements of power by which her throne is establi 
and her reign is perpetuated, and all true, brave, knigh 
hearts are proud to acknowledge their allegiance to 
and would die if need be for the maintenance of her 
ernment. Poltroons, only, voluntarily recoil from 
duties and responsibilities of married life, and disowr 
sway of woman. All the advantages and bliss of a 
fortunate marriage were in the dispensations of P, rov 
dence allotted to Gov ernor MoreHEAD. The lady of 
early, 
bosom, the mother of his ehilaner the sharer of all 
fortunes and feelings, his counsellor and gentle guide 
more than forty years. is 

There is no situation in which he was placed, where 
shone with amore attractive lustre than in his fam 
circle. His characteristic discretion and wisdom 
displayed in his choice of a wife. Her qualities of he 
and mind were exactly ‘suited to his taste, and the coi 
geniality between her and himself was striking even to a 
causal visitor to their hospitable home. They lived in ( 
state of blessedness, which springs alone from such ¢ 
geniality—themselves happy in one another, they diffu 
happiness to all around them and guided their chil 
more by the influence of this heaven-descended harmo 
than by the exercise of parental authority. Their ehil 
dren saw that they were happy, and were rendered so by 
mutual affection and mutual respect. They thus lear 
to love and respect one another, and became happy them 
selves in the society of each other. Home with all 
sacred influences, was endeared to them, and they we 
preserved from the manifold undercurrents of vice wh 
flow withovt, beyond the reach of the parental eye. — 





HON. JOHN M. MOREHEAD. 





_ this domestic circle, we discover the true secret of the in- 
_yaluable art of bringing up a family. The parents showed 

forth the virtues they inculcated—they were seen by their 
offspring to be attentive to all the duties of life—they 
' were truthful in word and in heart—cheerful in temper, 

refined in sentiment and just in their judgments of others. 
In every such case, as in the one now before us, parents 
_may be assured their children will shine with virtues 
_ reflected and virtues inherent, and “will rise up, and call 
- them blessed.” 

The canons of good taste forbid me to give you the best 
illustration of the truth of these observations. I can only 
say in this presence, that the honored individual whose 
eulogy I am called to pronounce, was most signally re- 

warded for the amenities and virtues he exhibited in the 
domestic circle, by the graces of his daughters, and the 
" sterling qualities of his sons. 

_ His wife, advanced to a venerable age, still survives to 
‘enjoy this recompense, and sheds the mild radiance of 
_ Christian piety, long professed, over the track of her clos- 

ing life. To her is due the tribute of our admiration for 
"her virtues, and of thankfulness for the service she ren- 
dered her country in the assistance she gave her illustri- 
' ous husband in his arduous labors for the public good. 

Soon after his marriage, Gov Moreneap left Rocking- 
ham, and became a citizen of Guilford county, in which 
_he resided for the residue of his life. As in this, so in 
_ that county, he soon became the “foremost man of all,” 
and was elected in 1827 to represent Guilford in the Leg- 
islature. It was at this session, that he came in conflict 
with John Stanley, in debate on a proposition, as I learn, 
“haying reference to a change in our judicial system. 
_ Mr. Stanley was Speaker of the House of Commons ‘at 
that time, and left the chair to reply to Mr. MorenEap, 











26 IN MEMORIAM. 


and was in the act of doing so, when he was stricken 
down with paralysis. 






















young and unpractised in debate as Gov. MorEHEAD ther el 
was, to have thus escaped as he did, the scathing wit an¢ d 
argument of an orator so eminent and a parliamenta ny 
debater so accomplished as was Mr. Stanley. ‘ 1 
Of the merits of the question in discussion between 
them, I know nothing—but of this I feel assured, that 
whatever Gov. MoREHEAD undertook to maintain on that. 
occasion, notwithstanding his youthfulness, he maintaine 
with an ability that commanded the respect of his adver-— 
sary, and was far beyond the reach of the ridicule with 
which Mr. Stanley was wont to assail those whom he op- 
posed in debate. Stanley, it may be, was able to excel 
him in the beauties of rhetoric, purity of diction, and the - 
general graces of oratory, but Iam not disposed to be y 
lieve, from any production of his mind that I have seen ; 
and read, that he could have surpassed Gov. MoreHEan 
in the force of argument. r 
How often Gov. Mornanap represented Guilford in the 
Legislature I am not informed; he was certainly, howeve a 
a representative from that Bounty several times, prior to 
1840, as well as several times after. i 
In 1840, he was placed in the lead of the Whig party 
of the State, as their candidate for Governor, and had ri 
his competitor the Hon. Romulus M. Saunders, the able 
champion of the Democratic party. 
This is the most memorable political campaign in an 
annals, and the contest between the two gentlemen named ~ 
was attended with many incidents of most exciting inter- 
est. It was the first time the State was ever canvassed 
by candidates for the office of Governor, and this novelty 
of itself was not without great influence in attracting the i] 
attention of the people. Large crowds assembled to hea 








































HON. JOHN M. MOREHEAD. 





them when they spoke, and their speeches were received 
| with animating plaudits by their friends. But the politi- 
_ cal issues of the time were of much magnitude and in- 
| tensely engaged the public mind. Each party, confiding 
_ in its principles and fully satisfied with its champion, felt 
hopeful of success. The canvass was a protracted one. 
It opened in Orange in the second week in March and 
closed in the second week in August. 

For five months the candidates were engaged in their 
laborious undertaking, traversing the State from the sea- 
| coast to the Tennessee and Georgia lines beyond the 
mountains. They frequently met, but did not always 
| travel in the same direction at the same time. If either 
| was absent, however, from a point where the other ad- 
dressed the people, his place in debate was supplied by 
- some party friend zealous in his cause. I witnessed sev- 
eral trials of skill and strength between them, and was 
| bound to yield to both the homage of my admiration. 
Judge Saunders, having been long prominently connected 
| with political pursuits, had more political information in 
the beginning of the canvass than Gov. Morrneap had, 
but in the art of influencing the masses by appeals to their 
interests and feelings, as well as in the force of legitimate 
argument, the latter was in my opinion greatly superior 
| to the former. 

Mr. Moreneap was elected by a majority of about 
eight thousand, which, considering the state of public 
| Opinion previously, and the adverse influence of the party 
| in power at the time, was triumphant. There is one circum- 
| stance connected with the history of that canvass deserv- 
| ing special notice, as illustrative of Gov. MorEHEAD’s 
| peculiar power and address as a popular advocate. 

He had been a political supporter of General Jackson, 
having voted for him on two occasions for President in 
| the Hlectoral College of North Carolina. When the 


| 













IN MEMORIAM.. 


Whig party was formed, however, he connected himsel 
with it, and was accused by some of his old party 
ciates of inconsistency and of abandoning his princi 
He met the charge by an indignant denial, and b 
made the issue, and successfully maintained it, that he had 
not deserted the principles on which Jackson was brought 
into the Presidential office, nor Jackson himself, but that 
whilst he had remained, and was still, a steadfast Jacksoi 
man, his competitor, forsooth, had changed and pesantll a 
Van Buren man. - 4 
In vain did his competitor endeavor to ridicule the i¢ ea, 
that Governor MorennaD or any other man should be a 
better Jackson man than Jackson himself, who was also 
well known to be in favor of Van Buren; he persevered 
in maintaining it, with a strong array of proofs, and 
carried the people with him, and to this day a large num- 
ber of the original supporters of General Jackson believe 
and affirm that Judge Saunders deserted Jackson for Van 
Buren, while Gov. MorEHEAD remained steadfast in his 
adherence to Jackson, as well as to his principles. 
He was inducted into office as Govermor of the 
State on the first of January, 1841, and then commence d 
a series of attacks upon him, which, while they subjecte 
his fortitude to severe trial, were yet the occasion of the 
development of the highest and most sterling traits of his 
character. In office, he was, as is now conceded even by. | 
those who were once opposed to him, eminently firm and 
patriotic in the discharge of his duties—wielding all his 
influence, personal and official, for the public good alone 
unswayed by party, unseduced by the suggestions of — on 
aroused by a sense of personal injury, and unregardful 
of the motives of personal ambition. i 
He was re-elected Governor in 1842, and served hi nis 
second term under all the embarrassments incident | 
having a majority against him in the Legislature and an 

































HON..JOHN M. MOREHEAD. 


| Executive council composed entirely of his political oppo- 
nents. His competitor in 1842 was the late Louis D. 
Henry (a man of fine speaking talents, but whose health 
prevented him from canvassing the State thoroughly,) 
_ whom he defeated by a majority of about five thousand, 
nothwithstanding at the time, the Whig party were in 
great apathy and discouragement, owing to the untimely 
death of Gen. Harrison, and the defection of Mr. Tyler. 
With his second term as Governor closed his connec- 
tion with politics except as a private citizen, until the 
_ year 1858, when he was returned to the Legislature as a 
member of the House of Commons from Guilford. I 
“served with him in the session of 1858~’9, being myself a 
“member from Caswell. Between the time of his retire- 
ment from the office of Governor, and his return to the 
Legislature, many conflicting interests had arisen out of 
the various railroad enterprises of the State. He was 
the first President of the North Carolina Rail Road 
Company, and under his auspices it was first put in oper- 
ation, and was conducted successfully for a number of 
Byears. * 
By his administration of its affairs, he incurred much 
censure and formidable opposition. But now that time 
and death have combined to subdue passion, and remove 
prejudice, and repeated investigations have disclosed the 
difficulties of his situation, and the motives which govy- 
-erned his actions, he stands fully vindicated, and high 
_ praise is accorded him for the industry, energy and ability 
he displayed in managing the affairs of the Company. 


language of a just tribute from the pen of another, “fight | 
ing swindlers and contractors to the last.” 

_ It was in the House of Commons at the Session of 
1858-9, that he was made the object of repeated attacks 





30 IN MEMORIAM. 






















by several prominent and able members for his course 
generally in regard to our Rail Road system. The man- 
ner in which he met and repelled those attacks will be 
long remembered by all who witnessed the scene. H lis 
seat in the Hall and my own were nearly contiguoi S. 
Just before he rose to answer his assailants, seeing that 
he was deeply excited, I stepped across the aisle, and 
whispered thus in his ear, “Governor, do your best. You 
are the most abused and most injured man in North Gael 
olina.” With an eye, flashing light through water at me 
he promptly responded, “ How shall I deal with them, my 
friend,”—shall I treat them gently, or shall I make myself 
the Wellington of the occasion and vanquish them com- 
pletely?” “Play Wellington,” said I. ‘J will,” he replie d, 
with energetic action. 

In a few moments he rose, and commenced his speech 
in tones of voice betokening just the degree of excitement 
so useful to him—so necessary to rouse the lion in him. 
And he did play Wellington, if ever man did, on hath o 
field or in parliament! 

Never was there a more brilliant victory won, than h B, 
achieved that day. His assailants were driven from all 
their positions in confusion, were pursued and routed, 
“horse, foot and dragoons.” They were men of no mean 
abilities—they were strong men, and the House felt the 
shock of battle while the conflict lasted. But when he 
closed his defense, his assailants bore the air of deep dejec: 
tion and discomfiture. 7 

The House was enraptured with the display of power on 
the part of Governor MorEHEAD, and no further charges | 
were heard against him—no other attacks upon him made 
during the session, but all other feelings and sentiments” 
were merged in unbounded admiration of “the old man 
eloquent.” ; 





HON. JOHN M. MOREHEAD. 


He was a member of the succeeding Legislature as 
Senator from Guilford, but I have no knowledge of his 
acts during the session. We were then upon the very 

_yerge of the conflict of arms, which has recently con- 
vulsed our great republic and laid us all in ruins. 

He was selected, with Judge Ruffin, Gov. Reid, George 

' Davis and Daniel M. Barringer, to represent North Car- 
_ olina in what was designated the “Peace Congress” which 
met in Washington in February, 1861. 

The object of this convocation of patriots and states- 
men, was to avert, if possible, by some fair and just 
adjustment of our differences, a dissolution of the Union, 

and the consequent calamities of civil war. Their efforts 
were unavailing, and some who went to that Congress 
opposed to a separation of the Southern States from the 
Union, returned in favor of it, as a measure of unavoid- 
able necessity. 

' To this class Gov. MorewEap belonged. He had ever 
been a wnion man in sentiment and feeling, and always 
denied the right. of a State to secede. 

He was deeply imbued with the political teachings of 

‘Washington, and was accustomed “to frown indignantly 
on every attempt to alienate any portion of our country 
from the rest.” He contemplated with exulting pride the 
moral sublimity of our attitude among the nations. Em- 
bracing, as our country does from east to west, the immense 
space between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, from north 
to south reaching from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico, 
with corresponding magnitude of dimensions from north- 
east to south-east, and from north-west to south-west, with 
resources of subsistence, wealth and power, adequate to 
the accomplishment of all the just hopes of patriots and 
‘philanthropists, without the unnecessary shedding of a 
brother’s blood, or the robbery of a sister State or nation 
—it was the anxious wish of his true heart, that the insti- 





sy? IN MEMORIAM. 



















tutions of government established by our fathers sh 
be preserved in their full integrity and strength, over 
this imperial domain, and that their blessings might 
diffused—not by force of arms—but by the force of & 
throughout the earth. But the malign mfluences 
are ever at work against the best interest of man, a: 
glory of God, had for years been “enfeebling th 
which linked together the various parts of our cou 
and finally brought us to the dire extremity of war. 

When the portentous issue became inevitable, Govern 
Moreneap did not hesitate which side to take. With’ 
whole soul he espoused the cause of his native land, 
devoted all his resources of mind and estate to its defense. 
The war closed while he yet lived, closed by the n most 
overwhelming defeat of the Southern States. 

His personal losses were immense. The a of 
battle had sent deep mourning into the bosom of his far 
ily. Yet he murmured not, nor apologised for any ser 
he had rendered his stricken and blasted country, 
owned himself a patriot still—in adversity, more bine in 
prosperity. 

Asa member of the Provisional Congress of the Co 
federate States, to which he was sent by our State 
vention, he displayed his accustomed diligence, sagacii 
and wisdom, and won the highest respect and confide 
of President Davis, our then elevated Chief—since fal 
alas! from office, but still, thrice exalted—exalted by 
talents, exalted by his virtues, yet more exalted by 

martyr-sufferings for liberty’s most holy cause ! 

After his service in the Provisional Congress closed, | hi 
applied himself with singular industry to the duties of | he 
private citizen in times of national discord and calamiti 

He went to work, and worked hard, to aid in feeding an 
clothing the soldiers who were suffering and fighting for 
us away off in the war ranks; and he remembered, too, 


HON. JOHN M. MOREHEAD. 


their aged fathers and mothers, their wives and their little 
ones, whom they had left behind at home. 

Did he then visit and minister unto these disconsolate 
| ones? Verily he did. But where is the evidence of the 
| fact? It is not to be found in any thing he was ever 
"heard to say about it. Certainly not. He dispensed his 
| charities under the christian injunction —“not to let his 
| left hand know what hisright hand did.” 
| But his Samaritan deeds are not unknown, and will not 
_ be unremembered. 

Go ask his steward at Leaksville what he was required 
to do for the poor by Gov. MoreseEap during the whole 
" course of the war. Let that steward in his own way tell 
_ of the uumbers who literally lived upon Governor More- 
' HEAD’S bounties, and yet were supplied in such a way as 
| to preserve their self-respect and prevent the humiliating 
| consciousness on their parts of abject dependence. That 
| steward thus writes to me. 
/+ “The Governor was frequently solicited by poor wo- 
i men, when they found him here, for aid. This he rarely 
| eyer gave in person. He would waive the subject and 
| state to them, that he was doing his part, as much as he 
could afford, would tell them they must not depend so 
much on him, but try to get some aid from others. He 
would then privately inquire of me about their circum- 
| stances, and what aid if any they had received from him, 
| and would frequently instruct us to let them have cotton, 
| not in his name, or that he was knowing to it, but to let 
| them have it, telling them we were not at liberty to sell 
| on credit, but they could take it and pay for it when they 
| were able. This he intended as a gift, but did not allow 
| them so to understand it.” . 
| Now this was doing aright thing in the right way. 


Many a poor heart has been pierced with anguish to the 


5 





84 IN MEMORIAM. 























core, even when a kindness was dispensed to it, by the 
manner in which it was done. 

True charity has its seat deep in the soul, and shed ding 
its influence over all the conduct, is as careful of inet C 
of its deeds as of the deeds themselves. 

But hear this steward again. In the same m 
gether with several other like incidents he relates the fol- 
lowing: “A young man who had been doing business for 
him for several years, managing his farm, was about 
leave and go to farming on his own account. The Gove 
nor settled off with him in full—I aided in the settlement. 
The Governor did not then say any thing about doing any 
thing more for him, probably because he did not wish it 
known. 

“As he bid the young man farewell, hdweren he sa d, 
‘you are about to go to farming on your own account, ts 
this small mite, in addition to your salary, as a mark of in 
respect for your industry and faithful services, and if you 
need aid at any time call upon me.’ The sum he thus 
gave him was a fifty dollar note, worth at the time fifty 
dels in gold, as I afterwards learned from the you ng 
man.’ 

But the detail of such acts of his would fill a volume. 
Let these two taken from a multitude of the same sor 
serve as the illustration of his manner of responding to 
the benevolent impulses of his nature. His beneficence 
was not by any means confined to his employees. His 
deeds of kindness and generosity were limited in number 
only by the objects he met with standing in need of them. 
Yet he has been accused of cold unfeeling selfishness. 

There are a thousand living hearts now beating strongly 
with gratitude to him that will indignantly repel the 
charge. Widows and orphans, and helpless maidens old, 
in numbers large, still live to vindicate, by feelin ng 
acknowledgments of personal ministrations to them in 


c 
— 






Ol- 


HON. JOHN M. MOREHEAD. 


their time of need, his honored name against the unjust 
aspersion. He was not a cold and selfish man. This 
whole community will proclaim the contrary to be true. 

To him it stands indebted for having relieved it of a 
heavy charge, which but for his good management and 
liberality would have fallen upon it, to support the wives 
and children of soldiers, and other indigent persons, 
during the late war. 

The man of cold and selfish nature, though often 

_ apparently liberal to the rich and the great, is never so to 

the really low and abject. Gov. Mormnean’s benevo- 
lence and charity flowed down into the lowest vales of 
human life. His slaves experienced the fruits of his all- 
reaching sympathies. He had nothing to look for in 
return from them, which could gratify vanity, or nourish 

_ pride—yet he was attentive to all their wants in sickness 
q and in health, and their very appearance proclaimed the 

_ superior kindness and clemency which it was their lot to 
' enjoy under his government. They loved him while he 

lived, and now that he is no more, some of them have been 
| heard to say that could he have lived, they would have ~ 
| prefered being his slaves always to being free. 

_ Well may they so feel and so express themselves, poor 
| homeless outcasts! They are destined to discover, that the 
| political philanthrophy, which goes about like a deranged 
| knight errant in search of adventures with imaginary evils, 
| will supply them with no adequate substitute for the bless- 
| ings of which it has deprived them. 
| When the war closed, as I have already intimated, Gov. 
| Morrneap found himself a great loser by its results. He 

not only lost his slaves, of whom he was the owner of a 
large number, but he also lost a great amount of invest- 
| ments in Confederate bonds, and a very considerable sum 
4 of Confederate money which he had on hand. Except 
| for a short time, when he was forced to do so in order to 





IN MEMORIAM. 


for any thing he had for sale, alleging as his reason for | 
doing, that it would have a tendency to discredit the 
rency and injure the Confederate cause if he pursued # 
opposite course. It was not from any want of foresig 
on his part, therefore, that he had so much Confederat 
money on hand when the great catastrophe occurred. He 
declared to a friend, that he had staked all his interest 
the Confederate cause, and was resolved to sink or swim 
with it, and would do nothing having the least ao _ 
to injure it. But the loss of property and money was not 
the only—not the greatest injury he sustained personally 
by the war. j 

Though naturally of a robust frame, and strong consti 
tution, he was when the war commenced verging upon the 
grand limit of the earthly pilgrimage generally allotted” 
to man. His three score years and ten were well nigl 
run out, and he was already labor-worn 4nd wearied by 
the exertions of his active life. The superadded cares” 
and anxieties brought on him by the great national con- 
vulsion pressed heavily on his spirits and energies—his 
physical powers gave way rapidly—his liver refused to 
perform its functions—he sickened with jaundice, and he 
died—died full of years and full of honors, and passed to 
that spirit world “where the wicked cease from troubling, 
and the weary are at rest.” q 

Thus I have endeavored to bring to view, some of the 
more prominent incidents of his life. It now remains ion 
us to consider his character in the three aspects it pre 
sents—first as an individual—secondly as a lawyer and 
advocate—and thirdly as a patriot and statesman. 

From what we have learned of his history, it must be 
apparent to all that he was a most grateful and dutiful son. 
This of itself afforded a strong guaranty of his future emi- 





HON. JOHN M. MOREHEAD. 


nence. Neither in my reading, nor in my acquaintance 
with men, have I met with an instance of an habitually 
undutiful child who ever rose to great and honorable dis- 
tinction. I here solemnly declare that I would never con- 
fide in the friendship, or trust to the integrity of any man, 
if 1 knew that he had been an ungrateful and undutiful son, 

Were I in search of a wife, I would solicit the hand of 

no lady of whom it could be truthfully said, that she was 
- an undutiful daughter. 

The Commandment to honor parents is “the first com- 
mandment with promise” and woe betide the child who is 
regardless of its divine authority. The cusre of God will 
rest upon him through life and 

“His grave! 
Religion will hallow it, 
Never! No never!” y 
_ Parents are not always blameless when their children 
are disobedient, but this, though it may slightly extenuate 
does neither justify nor excuse the hateful delinquency. 
It was the hapfy lot of Gov. MorrHEaD—as has been al- 
_ ready shown—to have parents worthy, in every respect, 
of his reverence. He loved and honored them as long as 
they lived, and after their deaths he cherished their mem- 
ories as sacred treasures of his soul. In childhood and 
youth he honored them by strict obedience—in the years 
of manhood, with assiduous devotion he ministered to 
their wants and alleviated all their trials and troubles. I 
have a distinct recollection of having once heard him 
speak with great emotion’ of the inexpressible joy he felt, 
"when by his success in life he was enabled to visit his father 
and carry with him the means of relieving him from the 
pressure of his debts. 

His brothers and sisters were most warmly and tenderly 
beloved by him. A sister dear thus writes to me concern- 
ing him: “My brother was ten years older than myself. 

He directed my course of reading, when I was quite young, 





AS: 


38 IN MEMORIAM. 
























I bore him as a brother. In the family ane he “a 
ways the same—never light or frivolous, and certainly 
possessed of the greatest equanimity of temper I haye evel er 
known. In fact I do not recollect ever to have seen him 
give way to his temper.” Such a tribute from such a ? 
source is worth more than a diadem. ‘a 
I do remember when young Abraham Morehead, that. ba 
brightly promising scion of his father’s race, came first t r | 
this Bar. He was endowed with genius, and imbued with — 
literature far beyond the young men generally of that day. 
He was modest, diffident and sensitive, and recoiled from 
the rude contact of the busy world. His brother, of whom 
I have already said, that he was the leader of the Bar on 
this circuit, at that time by every means fraternal affection 
could suggest, sought to inspire him with becoming con- j 


fidence in his own powers, and to induce him to 


“Trust his young wings a 
And mount the skies.” — > 


I heard the young brother’s first speech at this Bar, and 
noticed the deep interest the eldest felt in its success. It 
was deemed a happy effort for a young man and it brought 
the flush and smile of joy to the cheeks of the Governor. y 

His love for that young brother—who was so soon to. , 
pass away from earth—was like the love of Jonathan for 
David “’Twas wonderful, passing the love of women.” — 

The last expression I remember to have heard fall from 
his lips was one of warm affection for his only surviving 
brother. ql 

As a husband and father he may well be presented as a 
model. Ihave already alluded to his bearing in these — 
respects. It needs only to be added that to see him at 
home with his wife and children around him, to hear him 
converse and witness his sports with them—and observe 
his display of all the gentle amenities—methinks was quite re 





HON. JOHN M. MOREHEAD. 39 


sufficient to remove all prejudice against him—all enmity 
to him—and satisfy any one of the purity of his heart, and 
that he was in the fullest sense of the term a true-born 
gentleman. 

His prudential habits were admirable. He was a strict 
economist of time and of means. He eschewed procras- 
tination, never postponing till to-morrow what could be 
done to-day. He was systematic, and never left to chance 
what order and forethought could accomplish. A motto 
he commended to young men was, “ Upward and onward.” 
Another was, “Never be satisfied with your attainments, 
while a worthy object attainable lies yet before you.” 
These habits and mottoes suggest the causes of his own 
success in business. He was a man of principle, and was 
moved by the promptings of principle, rarely, if ever, by 
those of feeling, merely. He told me once that he was 
naturally prone, and strongly prone, to the habits of indo- 
lence, and that he labored from a sense of duty only. His 
friendships were cautiously formed, sincere, and abiding, 
acting in this respect upon the advice of Polonius to his 
son. He was free from envy, charitable in judging the 
motives of others, and just in acknowledging their merits. 
He never indulged in detraction. He was forgiving and 
magnanimous to his enemies, and rarely spoke of injuries 
and aspersions, which a majority of men resent with 


bitter recrimination. 


His moral habits in all respects were pure and elevated. 
‘He was temperate in all things, as “those who strive for 
‘the mastery” should be, and those who gain it generally 
are. He used no profane language, nor those less than 
profane, but vulgar, expletives so frequently heard from 
the lips of gentlemen. He was social and genial in temper, 
delighting in the pleasures of refined society and abounding 
in anecdote. He was neat and tasteful in his dress, bland 
‘and dignified in his mamners. 


Many years ago he held a conversation with me in 
village upon the grave subject of Religion. He 
acknowledged its paramount claims to the attention of al 
men, and advised meas he said he would all of 
whom he might address himself upon the subject, 
seek it promptly in early life, lest the advance in yea 
and the accumulations of business and its cares shoul 
render more difficult the surrender it demands. He was 
I believe, a pretty regular attendant upon the mini 
tions of its sanctuaries and a liberal contributor to fl 
support of the ministers of that branch of the chur 
which his wife and other members of his family belox 

In the closing scene of his life, which occurred a 
Bockbridge Alum Springs, in Virginia, he accepted 
thankfulness the pious offices of the ministers of Chr 
who invoked for him on his dying pillow, the grac 
regeneration and eternal life; and to the deyoted w 
his bosom, he sent the eee message that he truste 
in the Saviour, in whom she trusted. A 

To enable us to estimate correctly his character a 
lawyer and advocate, it is necessary to advert to t 
influences under which he commenced and ran his p 
fessional course. Greatness is a relative quality, and th 
term imports more or less according to circumstances. 
man may be justly considered great, when viewed i 
reference to one period of time or one state of society 
who would not be so considered when viewed in refere 
to another. Our judgment in the matter of greatnes 
often formed by comparison. The greatness of a discov 
in art or science is determined by the usefulness of 
results ; the greatness of men, by the fruits of their liv 
not ip but by these and other things 

J ulius Cesar is pr oven to have been cea by his if on 





HON. JOHN M. MOREHEAD. 


at, until he was slain. The first Napoleon was perhaps 
yet greater than he, though less successful on account of 
the greater obstacles he had to encounter. Wickliff, “the 
morning star of the Reformation,’ was in mental and 
| moral qualities equal if not superior to Luther, yet he 
| effected far less than Luther, owing to the deep darkness 
of the age in which he lived, and therefore ranks lower 
in the scale of greatness. In obscure communities, an 
‘individual may be distinguished for his talents, by contrast 
| with the dull mediocrity that surrounds him. <A great 
-man in Beotia would have been rated as a common one 
in Athens. 

Governor MorexEAD came to the Bar in 1819, a little 
past the meridian of the very brightest era in the juridical 
annals of North Carolina. 

The first quarter of the current century was illustrated 

| in our State by a fraternity of lawyers of the highest order 
of natural gifts, and of profound learning in the science 
of law. Among the professional lights of the time alluded 
to were William Gaston and John Stanley, Edward Gra- 
ham and Moses Mordecai, Gavin Hoge and Iredell, Strong 
and Toomer, Eckles and Strange—these were of the 
-Hastern and Cape Fear circuits, while in the middle and 
Western circuits, we had Peter Brown, Seawell, George 
_ E. Badger, Wm. H. Haywood and Thomas P. Devereux, 
Duncan Cameron, William Norwood, Murphy and Nash, 
Yancey, Ruffin, Settle and Shepperd, Archibald Hender- 
son, James Martin, Joseph Wilson, and David F. Caldwell, 
j and others well worthy of association with those I have 
' named, together constituting a resplendent galaxy, cer- 
| tainly not surpassed, if equalled by any, on this continent. 
| The older class of the gentlemen referred to were, when 
Gov. Moreen entered the profession, in their occident ; 
and the western horizon was in a blaze with their de- 


ii 
hs 
he 
perce 


‘a 





IN MEMORIAM. 


scending glories ;” the younger “were rising in the oppo: 
site quarter of the heavens, and quickly became lords 
the ascendent.” It is no small tribute to him to say, th 
at such a time, with the public mind familiar with such 
examples, he rose rapidly to eminence, and in his own 
circuit of practice became master of the first position. 
Nor was he without formidable rivalry in his ascent to 
- fame. Among the most prominent of his immediate co 
temporaries with whom he had to contend habitually, wer 
of those who preceded him at the Bar,—by a few years 
only,—Bartlett Yancey, James Martin, Thomas Settle ai 
Augustine H. Shepperd: of those who came shortly after 
him, Governor Graham, Chief-justice Pearson, Hu 
_ Waddell, Nathaniel Boyden, his brother Jas. T. Morehe 
John F. Poindexter, Ralph Gorrell and George C. M 
denhall, all men of general ability, and of surpassiz 
excellence in their respective fortes. id 
-Yancey was aman of great personal dignity, of com- 
manding influence throughout the State; and owing tot 
relation he sustained to the political panel of his day, 
with equal success in the courts and on the > hasan “al 
“‘ Wielded at will, the fierce democratie.’ oY: : 
Settle, who for more than twenty years graced the 
judicial ermine, was full of the fervor of genius, and with 
a strong hold on the popular regard and singular skill in 
the arts of advocacy, was able in all his courts to co 
mand a fine practice, and maintain a high position. 
Shepperd, with a clear head, and as pure a heart as ever 
beat in human breast, was thoroughly proficient in th 
science of special pleading, the technicalities of which 
brought to bear at times upon his adversaries to t 
great surprise and discomfiture. 4 
Martin, like Settle, wore the judicial robes for*many 
years, and sustained upon the bench the ropuiiaa ; 
learning he acquired at the bar; ardent and zealous m ‘ 





| 


A¢ on wel pao 


P= 
aie 


HON. JOHN M. MOREHEAD. 43 


 eauses of his clients, he was by these qualities and his 
professional attainments together, rendered at all times a 
strong antagonist in forensic disputations. 
Mendenhall, by indefatigable industry and the strictest 
attention to the minutest circumstances in the preparation 
_ of his cases, and a most confident and bold manner of ad- 
dress to juries, with good attainments in the law, made 
himself formidible, won a large practice and a fine repu- 
tation. 
These have all passed away, and deserve much more 
than this brief tribute. For the others I have named 


| who still live, it were ungraceful to do more now, than to 


assign them a place as I have done in the honorable cate- 

gory presented. 
~ Insuch times as he lived, with such knowledge and in- 
- fluences surrounding him, and with such rivals as he had— 
- to have won such eminence and fame as he did win, proves 
_ Joun M. Morrnrap clearly entitled to be ranked in his 

profession among the great. 

Nor are we at loss to discover the elements of his great- 

ness. He had genius and talent both in high degree. His 

mental resources were ample and full. His powers of in- 
yention and talent for application were equally striking, 
equally ready. 
_ He was not very accurately, not very extensively, learn- 
ed in the law; he had however mastered its general prin- 
ciples, and without much acquaintance with the cases.in 
Bane, his mind was so ordered, was of such a practical 
east, that he was one of the best counselors in the State. 
No client was ever heard to complain of having been mis- 
led by his advice. 

But it was as an advocate that he shone with peculiar 

- splendor. 
_ His presence, as I have already said, was imposing—his 
Voice was exceedingly pleasant in its tones—his argumen- 


44 IN MEMORIAM. 























tation was logical—his wit sparkling—his illustration: 
striking—and his flow of soul under the excitement of hi 
causes, captivating to all hearts. He assailed with grea 
force his adversaries’ positions—and defended his own 
with consummate skill. He was always self-possessed— 
always courteous. He had the best control of his temper 
of any man I ever knew. It was in vain to attempt io 
get the advantage of him by exciting his anger. 
He who did this, was sure to meet the fate of one wh 
should be foolish enough to arouse a sleeping lion merely 
to hear him roar. The roar he might hear—but he would 
also be devoured. He was a man of strong will, and pos 
sessed great power of controlling others in and out of the 
courts. During the last ten years of his practice at the 
Bar, he defended in nearly all of the capital cases oceur- 
ring in his circuit, and in such trials never lost but one 
verdict, and in that instance his client by his exertion 
was pardoned. He never had a client capitally executed. 
His rhetoric would not have passed in the schools. His 
diction was not always grammatical. He seemed to care 
very little for these matters. Language with him, as- 
with Mr. Calhoun, was the mere “scaffolding of thought,” ; 
he used it for its strength, rather than for its beauties. 
This carelessness was a defect in him much to be regret 
ted. There is a moral benefit arising from the cultivation” 
of accuracy and good taste in the use of language. Indeed 
good taste in regard to every thing we do, is very nearly 
akin to good morals. ¥ 
His deportment to the junior members of the profession 
was in accordance with the general tenor of his life. He 
was always gracious in his demeanor toward them, and 
gave them every encouragement and assistance in his powé 
in court and out of court. When in discharge of his duty, 
he defeated them in trials, he did it in such way as to 
make them feel that they had done quite handsomely 


i 


HON. JOHN M. MOREHEAD. 





themselves—but it was the badness of the cause alone that 
led to their defeat. He had too, an amiable way of letting 
off little compliments to them that were exceedingly 
grateful to their wounded feelings under a sense of their 
failures. 

It is just here at this point that my own heart, touched 
by the recollection, sends up its offering of gratitude to 
his memory, for soothing it on more than one occasion, 
when it was aching in silence under a feeling of the utter 
lack on my part of all that was necessary to secure suc- 
eess in life, and when it was yearning for some kind en- 
couraging word. 

_ He was a kind man, a good lawyer, and a great advo- 
cate. 

_ Of his patriotism, I shall, in addition to what I have 
already said, only express the conviction of my own mind, 


_ that it was ardent, enlightened and true, and was controlled 


by principles which, had they been carried out in the gene- 
ral administration of our government, would have averted 
the calamities we now so sorely feel, and have conducted 
us as a people to the highest attainment of national feli- 
city. 


As a statesman, the policy he approved was enlarged 


| and comprehensive. No merely sectional attachments 


ever obtained the mastery over lis mind or heart; but 
partaking largely of the spirit and views of Mr. Clay, 
had he been placed in the national councils, he would 


_haye known no North, no South, no East, nor West, but 


_ would have consecrated all his faculties to the best service 


of his whole country, and would have left the impress of 
his genius and wisdom on the national as he has done on 
_ the institutions of his own State. North Carolina certainly 
owes him a large debt of gratitude, for what he did for her, 


cia?) 


as well when he was in the private walks of life as when 


| charged with the duties of high official station. To him 


46 IN MEMORIAM. 

















more than to any other man, is she indebted for her existing 
works of Internal Improvement—her benevolent institu: 
tions, and the new impulse which the cause of educati 
received when his star was at the zenith of its culmination 
‘He was not only possessed of eminent ability to originate » 
and direct general plans, but he was perfect master o 
details, and saved the State immense expenditures by hi: 
familiarity with mere matters of account, and with mechan- 
ical rules, and civil engineering. He was not to be de 
ceived by laborers in any department, but understandin; 
their business as well as they did, he exercised firmness, 
and incurred much enmity, by withstanding their exorbi 
tant charges, and by exacting the utmost fidelity in the exe- 
cution of their contracts. In this respect, as in some oth- 
ers, he has often reminded me of what is related of th 
ereat Napoleon. a 
It is believed by many, who did not know him well, 
that he was not possessed of much information derived 
from reading. As to his acquaintance with books, I am 
persuaded that there is a prevalent mistake in regard to it. 
After I became acquainted with him, I had no reason” 
to believe that he was much given to books, but he must 
have been,at some period of his life a close, thoughtful 
and studious general reader, for he was undoubtedly, fai 
more than is usual with our profession in the State, famil- 
iar with belle-lettres, history, and the arts and sciences. 
When, or how, he acquired his knowledge of these things, 
Tam unable to say; probably, however, while he was a — 
youth, before he went to college, and when he was there, 
he laid up such treasures, by diligent improvement of his” 
golden opportunities, as enabled him to fill his future dig- 
nities with the accomplishments that became them. 
Thave just alluded to his attainments in civil engineer- 
ing. ‘Tt is well known to the profession that he was so 
expert in the art of Practical Surveying as to give him ~ 


HON. JOHN M. MOREHEAD. 


great advantage in trials of ejectment, when questions of 
boundry were involved. It seemed to me that his infor- 
mation was accurate, when occasion called for its display, 
on all points of mechanics, as well as those of architec- 
ture, from the building of a chimney according to the plan 
of Count Rumford, to the construction of the Dome 
“which Angelo suspended in the heavens.” 

Iremember, that at this place once, he discoursed to 
me, to my delight and edification, when I was in the first 
years of manhood, on the subject of Metaphysics, pointing 
out to me the progress of the science, stating and compar- 
ing the respective theories of Locke, Reid and Dugald 
Stewart, in regard to the powers or faculties of the human 
mind, and the peculiar office of the human understanding. 
In public and private discourse, he frequently made such 
allusions to history as showed him well acquainted with 
the grand events on which the rise, progress and fall of 
nations had turned. 

With unpremeditated facility he could recite, with effect 
| and point, from Milton, Shakespeare, Campbell, Burns and 
| other classical and belle-lettres writers, and several of his 
| professional brethren now present will probably never for- 
get the electrical effect he produced in a trial at Stokes, 
when defending a beautiful woman, by a most apposite 
quotation from one of the poems of Savage. 

He was no pedant, however, and indulged no vain osten- 
tation. He had read 


«Multum, sed non multa,”’ 


| Much, but not many books. This I deem both wise in him 

| and fortunate for his country. He was a man of original 
ideas, and was for the most part controlled by his own 

| and not by the views of others. 

Had it been otherwise with him, he might have become, 

| as too many are in the present day, 


““Deep versed in books, but shallow in themselves,” 





IN MEMORIAM. 





He was a working man. The prominent trait of his cha 
acter was practical vigor—but he had enough acquir 
information from books, enough of literary taste and 
spect for learning, to rescue his honored name from the 
list of the followers of Omar, and to place it in its righ 
ful association with those of the cultivated, enlighted ax 
liberal gentlemen and statesmen of the ninteenth cent 
in the great christian Republic of America. % 

It is deeply to be regretted, that none of the fine dis 
plays of his talents as a lawyer and statesman remain ~ 
us in print. His fame would on this account be the le 
enduring, were it not that imposing edifices projected - 
his genius and reared under his superintendence, for # 
instruction, sustenance and comfort of the Deaf, Dum 
the Blind, and- the stricken victims of Lunacy, s 
~ gracefully erect and point high toward Heayen, to sp 
constantly his praise—while Engines of Steam, rumnil 
with animating celerity from East to West, and throu ugh- 
out the State, will catch the strain and repeat it wilh 
ous acclaim to future generations. 

Young brethren of the Bar, Youth of Rockingham! @ 
word to you, and I have done,— a 

> Liv es of great men all remind us 
We can make our lives sublime, 


And departing leave behind us 
Footprints on the sands of Time! ” 


AES Ure 


TO 
THE GENIUS AND WORTH 


OF 


JOHN M. MOREHEAD. 


By WILL. LAFAYETTE SCOTT. 


Though “honor’s voice” cannot “provoke the silent 
dust,” nor the sincerest regard “soothe the dull cold ear 
of death;” yet it is a sad pleasure to one, who admires 
sterling genius and loves exalted worth, to sit down by 
the graves of the distinguished dead and there review the 
parts which they acted in the great drama of this life. 
Nor is it a pleasure only—it is a solid advantage to the 
“intelligent mind and an improvement to the heart, that 
looketh up for purity and moral elevation. Thence is the 
gold of true and practical wisdom, that wisdom which 
liumines the darkened way of this world. 

Unlike too many of the gifted, Jonn Morey More- 
HEAD lived to some purpose. He acted his part, in the 
drama of life, well, effectively, illustriously. Departing, 

Tike the comet sweeping through space, he hath left a one 
and blazing light behind him; dead and buried, his life is 
4 “not obscured and lost—he yet liveth and speaketh. Hve- 
_Tywhere and to everybody he was useful. By his splendid 
abilities and untiring energy, not only did he amass a 
handsome private fortune and place his name on high 











ie 
=] 





IN MEMORIAM. 


among the distinguished statesmen and orators of 
country; but he did more than any one else to advance 1 
cause of general internal improvement and to promote 
interest and welfare of his State. Not merely was he 
eminently great in the political world; but in the s0¢ ial 
circle and the learned coterie, he was graceful, gen via 
witty, brilliant and fascinating. The loss of sucha 
is, at all times, a calamity,—in this day of our tribulati 
it is incalculable. Nor do his own neighbors alone mour 
his demise: “All ye that were about him bemoan bin 
and all.ye that knew his name, say, ‘How. i is the strong 
staff broken, and the beautiful rod!’” j 
Though Gov. Mornunap had abandoned the practice of 
the law many years before my appearance at the Bard ret 
it was my fortune, while quite a youth, attending, out ¢ 
childish curiosity, upon the sittings of the Superior Court t " 
of Guilford, to see him and to hear him. Of what he said 7 
T have not now even a dim recollection; but the impression 
which he made upon my youthful Ret by his power of 
thought, eloquence of utterance, and fascination of man-— 
ner, time, like the stream its channel, hath only deepened. 
My mother had told me how charming are the angels of 
heaven, and my youthful imagination fancied, he must be 
like them. To me he was the most captivating talker’ 7 
had ever heard. Of all the things dearest to a child i is : 
his little pet animal, and he delights to associate with it it 
the object next most admired. Such was the spell he 
threw over my heart, that so soon as I returned home, my 
pet’s name was changed to MorEHEAD. Nor did that sp 
ever break. From that time my admiration of this gre 
man commenced, and to his death it continued. Hey 
in the golden prime of matured manhood, and at the noon 
of his professional fame. He had wrestled up to that em- 
inence with such men as Murphey, Nash, Toomer, Yandepy 
Henderson, Dick, Wilson, Mendenhall and Settle, va 





HON. JOHN M. MOREHEAD. 51 


passed to eternity before him, and with Ruffin, Graham, 


Caldwell, Boyden, Gorrell, Gilmer, Kerr and Poindexter, 
who are yet ornaments of their profession and of their 
country. He was about two-score-and-two-years old; the 
weight of years had not stooped his shoulders; his hair 
was only slightly “besprent with rays and gleams of silver 
light;” his face was smooth-shaven; a mild lustre usually 
lit his blue eyes, but in a moment of animation, they spark- 


_ Ted like the brightest stars; his forehead was not high, yet 


massive; his nose slightly Roman; his chin prominent; his 
lips compressed; not unfrequently, when in deep thought, 
he indulged in a whispering whistle; and his dress was 
elegant, but never ostentatious. Such was he as I first 
saw him, nor can that image ever pass from my memory. 
The life-true picture, which was then daguerreotyped in 
my plastic young heart, was taken from the whole appear- 
ance of the man in repose and inaction. Thenceforward, 


it has been to me the subject of profound study; but never 


have I seen, in the walks of life, nor has my imagination 


- conceived, a man so all-gifted as he was. His 


* * * mind was an essence, compounded with art 
From the finest and best of all other men’s powers.” 


As a lawyer, he was pre-eminently great. That learned 
jurist, Judge Caldwell, remarked to me shortly after his 


| death was announced, that “Gov. MorEHEAD knew the 
| fundamental principles of the law by intuition, and, as an 
| advocate, he had no equal.” The mouth.of a wide and 
- common tradition, too, says, he spoke magnetically. He 


SF ec 


knew all the avenues to the understanding and the passions, 
and for home-thrusts, heart-thrusts, he was famed above 


_ any man of his times. “Of human feelings,” he was, like 
| the immortal Sheridan, “the unbounded lord.” As was 
| sung of this Irish orator, he 


‘© * * * ruled, like a wizard, the world of the heart, 
And could call up its sunshine, or bring down its showers.” 


res 


52 IN MEMORIAM. 
























He enshrined the richest and most solid thoughts in 
the most transparent and powerful language. His reason- 
ing was rapid, cogent, vehement, overpowering. Hea: 
him, at times, suggested the ancient story of Vulcan fi 
ing and Jupiter hurling thunderbolts. Sometimes, he ex- 
amined a witness with the sweetness and witchery of one 
sueing for the love of a beautiful damsel, and seldom did 
he fail to win so upon the witness as to make him ah r 
friend of his client than of his adversary; and, at other 
times and when this plan failed, which was infrequent, he 
would press the witness with the impetuosity and terrible: 
ness of the driving storm. Scanning the man, he cou d, 
in a trice, tell whether he could be lured or driven, ant 
he was governed, in the course of his examination, by this 
discovery. Before the Court, his persuasive argum 
was almost invincible—before the jury his earnest, im) 
sioned, fervid eloquence was omnipotent. He forgot him- 
self, forgot display, thought only of his cause—his client— 
success. Though he was not always successful, a client 
seldom suffered in his hands—he could, in every thing, 
make “the worse appear the better reason.” He tried an 
action of ejectment with matchless ability and skill; but 
he was most distinguished as a criminal practitioner. He 
never had a client to pay the forfeiture of his life upon” 
the gallows, though he appeared in the trial of, perhaps, 
every capital felony, on his judicial circuit, for a number a 
of years before he retired from the practice of the law. 
To say this is to pronounce the highest panegyric upon his 
ability, ingenuity, skill and eloquence. Of few besides 
the wizard-lipped Clay and himself, even among the ablest 
and fullest practitioners, can thus much be truly said. 

Of him as a public man, all, even the youngest, know 
much. Nor will it be profitless for young men of ambr 
tion, who have entered, or intend te enter, his profession, 

to consider, that he consented to represent his people only 


} 


HON. JOHN M. MOREHEAD. 


| three times in the lower house of our General Assembly 
during the long period in which he practised law—twenty- 
| one years. His profession absorbed all his time and en- 
listed all his great powers of intellect. Thus he worked 
_ his way easily and early to the proudest distinction in the 
 abstrusest science known to man. When he entered poli- 
_ tics, he was not as thoroughly versed in its history in our 
| government as were many of fewer years than himself. 
But he knew how to study; he was apt to learn; he bent 
| his whole strength and energy to its successful prosecution; 
| and, in an inconceivably short time, he had fully mastered 
| it. His gubernatorial contest, in the summer of 1840, with 
| Gen. Saunders, one of the giants of the State, is without 
| a parallel in canvassing in North Carolina. Both were 
| Titans; both were in the vigor of life; both were exceed- 
ing ambitious; MorexEAD was no politician; Saunders was 
| ashrewd, learned and dexterous one; politics was running 
higher in the State than ever before or since; never was a 
contest involved in more uncertainty; large and eager 
_ crowds met them everywhere they went, and they traversed 
| the State from the blue waves to the blue mountains; and 
fired by the excitement of the occasion and the hope of 
| success, they struggled and battled with the power, the 
| fervor and the indomitableness of the giants of the olden 
| time. From that intellectual gladiature, he came out suc- 
| cessful, triumphantly so, both in debating and gaining 
votes. Never was the banner of any cause borne more 
_ proudly and gloriously, than was that of Whiggery in that 
year and in that canvass and by that man! . 

On entering upon the duties of the Executive office, as 
in the practice of his profession, he devoted his undivided 

| energies and talents to the interest and welfare of the © 
State. From that hour he began to erect monuments of 
| State-pride, which are more durable than those of marble 
or of brass. Every engine which is daily treading its 





. 54 IN MEMORIAM. 


F < * + 
iron-pathway in the borders of the State, Whi: t 


exerted and deka: in the cause of internal i improvem 
Every common school-house, which dots our hills and 
leys, points to him as the ardent friend of general ed 
tion. The Institution for the Deaf and Dumb and the Blin 
mourns not a little the loss of its kindest benefactor. _ 
superb building which stands near the great central r 
and which is the home of impaired and lost minds, silen 
but impressively proclaims how he gloried in that bene 
lence which immortalized a Howard, a Dix, an Everet 
Dobbin, and other great names in history! 


His second canvass was with the gifted and eloquer nt 
Louis D. Henry, whose political armor was not less high ly 
burnished than that of any public man of the Stat 
Their discussion in Cumberland is yet fresh in the mem i 
ies of all who heard it. Henry opened the debate. 
was flushed with the highest hopes: He was on his na 
heath and surrounded by the friends of his youth and ear- 
lier manhood. Consciousness of this made him strong a md 
eager for the contest and more unsparingly severe in his 
attacks upon the public life of his competitor. He charg ed 1 
him with being largely interested in the Banks and with 
being heavily indebted to them. Seeing, as he advance d 
in his brilliant and terrific argument, the brightening and 
exulting countenances of his own friends and the down- 
sinking and despairing faces of his competitor’s, he rose 
higher and higher, and roused up more and more, until he 
towered imperially and grandly in the pride and power a 
his invective, his denunciation and his eloquence. He ap- 
peared a young god in the might and majesty of his extra- - 
ordinary intellectual effort. When Gov. MOREHEAD arose 
his friends could scarcely hold up their heads. They ‘elt 
whipped—completely demolished. None could see any 
way of escape for him from the deplorable predicament in 





HON. JOHN M. MOREHEAD. 55 


which Henry had lefthim. He, however, was as calm as a 
summer day—perfectly self-possessed. Embarrassment 
had never entered his mind. He saw his way clearly—his 
whole soul was stirred in thought but not in excitement— 
and his triumph glittered and glowed in his imagination. 
He reviewed the history of the Banks; spoke, at length, 


_ of the independence of one who was so fortunate as to be 


—— 


largely interested in them; depicted the horrible and woe- 
ful condition of one so vastly indebted to them as he was 


_ represented to be by his competitor; as he advanced and 


culminated in drawing this dreadful picture, his friends, 
believing that his condition, were more deeply depressed 


' and looked like they desired to slink away to hiding 


_ places—but when he reached the climax of his friends’ 
_ despair and his enemies’ joy, seeming to rise higher than 


_ was his wont, pausing,—it was an awful pause—and cast- 
_ ing his eyes around upon his whole audience, he proudly— 


as none but he could—and defiantly exclaimed: “I have 


| not a single dollar's interest in the Banks—I owe them not 


one copper cent!!” What a change in the crowd! His 


- friends looked as joyously as a mother to whom a lost 


babe has been restored unharmed; and his enemies like 


the lords at the banquet of Timon of Athens, when, he 


| erying out: “Uncover dogs, and lap!” they, obeying or- 
| ders, uncovered the dishes and found them full of warm 


_ water! He then carried every thing before him. Henry 


and his friends never rallied, nor did he over that discus- 


sion during the campaign. MorEHEAD was re-elected. 


As a stump-orator, Gov. MorrHEAD perhaps never had 


-an equal. Coleridge has said: “what comes from the 
heart goes to the heart.” That was his secret of sucecess— 


he spoke from the heart, felt what he said, reached the 
hearts of those who heard him and made them feel as he 
did. J have seen him take a crowd, wearied and exhausted 


_by other speakers, and in five minutes have them scream- 


ny: IN MEMORIAM. 


iron-pathway in the borders of the State, whistles a 
thunders his zeal, his activity, his patriotism and his glo 
exerted and achieved in the cause of internal improvem 
Every common school-house, which dots our hills and ° 
leys, points to him as the ardent friend of general edu 
tion. The Institution for the Deaf and Dumb and the Bl 
mourns not a little the loss of its kindest benefactor. 
superb building which stands near the great central r 
and which is the home of impaired and lost minds, siler 
but impressively proclaims how he gloried in that bene 
lence which immortalized a Howard, a Dix, an Everett, a 
Dobbin, and other great names in history! a 
His second canvass was with the gifted and eloqu 
Louis D. Henry, whose political armor was not less hig 
burnished than that of any public man of the S 
Their discussion in Cumberland is yet fresh in the men 
ies of all who heard it. Henry opened the debate. — 
was flushed with the highest hopes. He was on his na 
heath and surrounded by the friends of his youth and 
lier manhood. Consciousness of this made him strong 
eager for the contest and more unsparingly severe in 
attacks upon the public life of his competitor. He char, 
him with being largely interested in the Banks and wi 
being heavily indebted to them. Seeing, as he advance ved 
in his brilliant and terrific argument, the brightening 4 nd 
exulting countenances of his own friends and the down 
sinking and despairing faces of his competitor’s, he r 
higher and higher, and roused up more and more, until he 
towered imperially and grandly in the pride and power of 
his invective, his denunciation and his eloquence. He ap 
peared a young god in the might and majesty of his ex 
ordinary intellectual effort. When Gov. MoREHEAD ar 
his friends could scarcely hold up their heads. They elt 
whipped—completely demolished. None could see any 
way of escape for him from the deplorable predicament in 








HON. JOHN M. MOREHEAD. ‘55 







which Henry had lefthim. He, however, was as calm as a 
summer day—perfectly self-possessed. Embarrassment 
had never entered his mind. He saw his way clearly—his 
whole soul was stirred in thought but not in excitement— 
and his triumph glittered and glowed in his imagination. 
He reviewed the history of the Banks; spoke, at length, 
of the independence of one who was so fortunate as to be 
largely interested in them; depicted the horrible and woe- 
_ ful condition of one so vastly indebted to them as he was 
represented to be by his competitor; as he advanced and 
culminated in drawing this dreadful picture, his friends, 
believing that his condition, were more deeply depressed 
and looked like they desired to slink away to hiding 
places—but when he reached the climax of his friends’ 
_ despair and his enemies’ joy, seeming to rise higher than 
was his wont, pausing,—it was an awful pause—and cast- 
ing his eyes around upon his whole audience, he proudly— 
as none but he could—and defiantly exclaimed: “TZ have 
not a single dollar’s interest in the Banks—I owe them not 
one copper cent!!” What a change in the crowd! His 
friends looked as joyously as a mother to whom a lost 
babe has been restored unharmed; and his enemies like 
the lords at the banquet of Timon of Athens, when, he 
erying out: “Uncover dogs, and lap!” they, obeying or- 
ders, uncovered the dishes and found them full of warm 
water! He then carried every thing before him. Henry 
and his friends never rallied, nor did he over that discus- 
sion during the campaign. MoreHeap was re-elected. 








_ Asa stump-orator, Gov. MorEHEAD perhaps never had 
an equal. Coleridge has said: “what comes from the 
heart goes to the heart.” That was his secret of suecess— 
he spoke from the heart, felt what he said, reached the 
hearts of those who heard him and made them feel as he 
did. Ihave seen him take a crowd, wearied and exhausted 
by other speakers, and in five minutes have them scream- 


IN MEMORIAM. 


yield him much, if any, income; but he did it because of 

his great desire to spread female education, refine society — 
and bless and elevate mankind. Nothing, neither the small — 
ness of numbers, the inconsiderableness of the income, nor 

flourishing competition, could have induced him to give it — 
up so long as he lived. During the very last year of the 
war, two causes stopped it: The difficulty of procuring — 
provisions with the depreciated Confederate currency, and ~ 
the demand of his buildings for a General Hospital for 
the sick and wounded soldiery. To thousands of persons | 
there are, around and about Edgeworth, endearing aniene 
lowed associations and memories, which make them hope, 
that.ere long its doors will be opened and the angel fonngah j 
of sweet girls again line its walks and enliven its halls! — 


No matter how correctly a person may conduct his walk © 
in this life, the shafts of envenomed defamation will be, 
often sneakingly and sometimes openly, directed against — 
him. ’Twwas so in the highest type of man that ever trod — 
the earth. Nor is it, therefore, wonderful, that it should 
be so in the case of frail mortals. Gov. MorEHEAD, with 
all his moral elevation of character and greatness of intel 
lect, did not escape. Ever and anon it was whispered, 
that he was selfish. That was the principal charge against — 
him in his autumn days—seljishness! Ay, he was selfish—_ 
not meanly, sordidly and basely so—but eminently and 
nobly selfish! No man is worth a groat, who is totally 
destitute of this motive-power. Whoever is selfless, cares 
nothing for the interests of others; whoever is seljless, 
despising the interests of others, would willingly see so- 
ciety demoralized and government demolished. In every — 
man, there should be the element of selfishness; and to 
balance the man properly there should enter into his char- 
acter with it the principles of generosity, magnanimity, © 
mercy, justice and charity. Such was Gov. MoREHEAD'S” 
character—such was his selfishness 





HON. JOHN M. MOREHEAD. 


While he made a mere pittance out of the large amount 
of capital invested in Edgeworth and its lovely grounds, 
the citizens of this town and county, and even of adjoining 
counties and States, were largely benefited—merchants 
and farmers at home and patrons abroad, the merchant 
and farmer in selling merchandize and produce, and the 
latter in receiving back their daughters thoroughly and 
elegantly educated. In this wasn’t he selfish ?—nobly and 
eminently so in carrying on such an unpaying institution 
for upwards of thirty years? 

He, too, dignified the office of Justice of the Peace for 
several years in taking upon himself its irksome duties and 
hedyy responsibilities—for its responsibilities are weighty 
when properly and fully appreciated—and acted for a 
time as Chairman of the Court of Pleas and Quarter- 
Sessions for Guilford. Here, he was exceedingly selfish, 
giving his ability, time and learned acquirements to the 
county by presiding in court four weeks in the year, and 
deciding questions of law, and despatching business with 
the accuracy and promptness of a profound, patient and 
working Judge. Wasn’t he selfish—eminently and nobly 
selfish ? 

As we have stated before, he was the pioneer in this 
section of North Carolina in rearing factories and in 
driving them. All know, that the factories in this part of 
the State, in consequence of being unable to compete with 
those of Lowell and other cities and States North, never 
made much, if any money, before the war. Still, he 
carried his on, and even while he was expiring in the 
_ mountains of his native State, his spindles and his looms 
were still running. This was selfish, indeed !—striving, 
@ mid loss and adversity, to compete with the splended mills 

_ of the North! Would that we had thousands of his like! 
_ Just such selfishness would make our lands, in this State, 


@ blossom as the rose. 






































60 IN MEMORIAM. 


Upon the announcement of his name as a candidate fa 
the Senate, or House of Commons, some petty cc 
politician would start the story, that Gov. MoREHEAD 
some particular interest to subserve, otherwise he w 
not be before the people; and that the people unde 
this and would defeat him. He never canvassed fully: 
business would not permit, nor was it needful. Hew 
sometimes speak at three or four places in the county 
when the election passed, notwithstanding these sla 
and he could not visit all parts of the county, he was 
highest in the field. Yes, he is charged with being si 
in representing his people——for what? Not for the h 
of the position, he had that and higher honors; not? 
make reputation, his name was “a household word ;” 
_had lived past all this! He had a purpose in going to ’ 
General Assembly—would that all had!—and his pw 
was patriotic, good, noble! He helped push through 
charters for several of our public roads; not only aid 
in having them passed, but traversed our State from one 
end to the other, along the line of the roads, making his 
ablest and most eloquent speeches to get up the stock 
necessary to be taken to secure the charters; while 
rebellion was progressing, he seized an opportunity,y 
offered, to accomplish the connection between Danyille 
and this place; and at the very last meeting of the Stock 
holders of the North Carolina Railroad Company, he put 
forth his comprehensive and grand scheme for the co 
idation and extension of some of the roads of the Sta 
Selfish in all this? Yes, eminently and nobly so? Di 
all of us want the Danville connection? Is it nota be 
to all of us? Has it not enhanced our real estate 
afforded us greater traveling and marketing facilit 
Could it be of any more advantage to him? Did he not 
benefit thousands more than himself? Was it not apa te 
riotie State work, greatly needed and desired—long_ 





HON. JOHN M. MOREHEAD. 


wished for? Was not the Central road a great State 
desideratum? Could we have done without it? Was it 
| not important to push the iron-railway from Goldsborough 
to the sea-shore? Do you call this selfish? If so, may 
Heaven raise up other intellectual giants to push ferward 
general internal improvements, until such selfishness - 
checkers our whole territory with railways, and every 
nook and corner of the State are aroused and energized 
by the tread and neigh of the mighty iron-horse! Ah! 
_ but we are told, he planted the foundation of a city at the 
terminus of the Atlantic road, and that was the reason he 
‘was so anxious for it! Suppose he did—all we regret is 
that it is not now as populous as New Orleans or New 
York. Should his efforts already expended there be the 
means of building up and making Morehead City large, 
Opulent and flourishing, we should bless his name and 
honor his memory. It would, like most he did, benefit 
and bless others more than it did him or can his descen- 
dants. OO, for more such selfishness! 


The first and only public position which Gov. MoREHEAD 
ever filled, of a national character, was that of a delegate 
in the Peace Conference, that assembled in the City of 
_ Washington early in 1861. He went there an ardent and 
devoted friend of the Federal Union. He went there 
-hopefully—he went there to labor and to counsel for the 

accomplishment of the great end in view. He bent all of 
his energies; exerted all of his skill and persuasion; 
worked continuously and untiringly for a month, to stay the 
tide of blood and woe, which, all feared, was setting in 
rapidly and irresistably. But the patriotism which called 
that august body together, was destined to disappointment. 
Bad ambitions determined, that the dogs of war should be 
let slip. On his return, the citizens of Guilford assembled 
in the court-room to hear his account of the doings of the 
| Conference. None, who heard it, will ever forget his 





IN MEMORIAM. 


speech. All had escaped the Pandora-box except hope 
He still hoped, but it was scarcely more than the hope 
an expiring man. His usually bright face wore an 

sion of the deepest gloom.” He had loved the Unio: 

he had loved it well, and to think of its disruptic 
heart-rending to such a patriot and statesman. His 
were full of pathos and tenderness, and he coun 

wise and firm moderation and an implicit trust 

who ruleth among the kingdoms, empires and repu’ 

the earth. That was the last time he talked for the U: 

a cause in behalf of which the utterances of his tong 
been more eloquent than on all other subjects betes 
had ever spoken. 

In the incipiency of the Southern government, re 
chosen by the Legislature of the State to represent 
Congressional district in the Provisional Congress. 
served for a short time in that body, which soon gave p 
to what was called the Permanent Congress. He nevei 
filled another office during the rebellion, nor since. r 
his public life closed. Like a number of other illusti 
names which might be mentioned, he was not of that se 
of politicians who were called into places of trust and re 
sponsibility by the Chief of the Confederacy. Nor dic 
that “lost cause” have the benefit of his genius and abilif 
to keep it from sinking, as it has, irretrievably and foreye 

Gov. MorEHEAD was now passing through the mellow 
and beautiful Indian summer of his life—that period ¢ 
man’s existence when he ceases to chase the phantor 
fickle fame and deceitful hope, and, though he loo 
the future, it is less at things temporal than things 
—that season when the mind turns back fondly and ¢ 
to the sweet days of childhood, and reviews carefully 
minutely the struggles, trials, perils, defeats and triumphs 
of ripe and stalwart manhood. Second-childhood, 
which the aged pass long before the strength and brilli 


































HON. JOHN M. MOREHEAD. 63 


of the intellect are weakened or dimmed, is more blissful 
than first. Ignorance as well as innocence constitutes, to 
a considerable degree, the bliss of the first; but the hap- 
piness of the second is heightened by the fruits of large 
“experience and chastened wisdom. The old man has felt 
the mildness of the child’s spring-time, the heat and excite- 
‘ment of the young man’s summer, and the sharp frosts and 
pinching blasts of the aged’s autumn; three score winters 
have whitened his locks and they have whitened his heart 
as well; if he never inclined to it before, his mind then 
acquires a fondness for reflection and philosophizing—all 
these prepare him, at that time of life, to enjoy more in- 
tensely his past, which comes to him with the softness; 
loveliness and witchery of pleasant dreams. 


“Those days, 80 serene and so charming, 

Awaken a dreamy delight— 

A tremulous, tearful enjoyment, 
Like soft strains of music at night; 

We know they are fading and fleeting, 
That quickly, too quickly, they’ll end, 

“«f And we watch them with a yearning affection, 
orn As at parting we watch a dear friend.” 


~ He was always social and affable; but his sociability and 
-affableness increased very much in his latter days. He 
“ ‘was much more at home than hitherto, and had more lei- 
“sure to mingle with his neighbors and friends. We re. 
“member vividly and with exquisite pleasure the evenings 
‘which he was wont to spend down town in the summer 
and autumn of 1865 and in the spring and summer of 1866. 
Those were halcyonian evenings! He was always fond of 
“conversation and was gifted with the most brilliant con- 
“Yersational powers. His conversations on these evenings, 
though frequently on public matters, the status of the 
‘South and the prospects.ahead of us, showed that his mind 
uxuriated in recurring to the remote past, his school-boy, 
professional and public days. Of these, he was full of 
anecdotes, amusing and instructive; narrative, thrilling 
and touching; and information, historic and philosophic. 





64 IN MEMORIAM. 


















Of pleasant evenings, when he was on the street, his 
friends would gather around him where he was seated in 
the cool shade and there sit and listen, with rapt attention, 
for hours, and sometimes until deep twilight, at his des- 
criptions of cases in which he had appeared, his acco 
‘of public men and political scenes in which he was a prom- 
inent actor, his flashes of wit and good humor, his schen 
for repairing the ruined fortunes of the State and of 
dividuals, and his trust in Providence, that all things wo 
work together for our common weal. He touched a 
riety of topics and never without illumining each. T 
conversations of the intellectual and cultivated, who : 
im the “sear and yellow leaf” of life, are always hig 
edifying. A shrewd observer and profound thinker, 
deed any one, learns more from such a source than from 
books, more that is practical. They are living books. 
They may not always be strictly accurate in their lear a 
ing; but the same may be said, not infrequently, of auth 
with their libraries before them. In listening to the wise, 
and gifted, and talented, you have the charm of the voice, 
the lustre of the eye, and a kindling, stirring eloquence 
and fervor, which never can be transferred to the pages of 
an author, no matter how much he may transfuse himself 
into his writings. ia 

When the spring and summer come again, his fine, vei ne 
erable form will be missed in our streets and his chair va- 
cant in our social gatherings. His place, alas, can never. 
be filled—we shall “never look upon his like again” in the | 
circle of our friends. “A really great man,” says the Hon. 
Henry W. Hilliard, “is the grandest object this world ever 
exhibits. The heavens in their magnificence—the ocean 
in its sublime immensity—mountains standing firm upo a 
their granite foundations, all are less imposing than a liy 
ing man in the possession of his highest faculties. Demos- 
thenes urging the Athenians to march against Phillip, in- 


HON. JOHN M. MOREHEAD. 65 


_terests us more than all Greece. Hannibal scaling the 
Alps with his victorious legions, is a sublimer object than 
the Alps themselves. Marius seated upon the ruins of 
Carthage, makes us forget the fall of an empire in con- 
templating the fortunes of a man. Nelson upon the deck 
of the Victory, with the star glittering upon his breast, is 
a grander sight than the two hostile fleets. Napoleon at 
- Waterloo, riding to the brow of the hill at the head of the 
Imperial Guard when they were to make their last charge 
upon the British lines, is an object of higher interest than 
all the stern array of battle beside. Lord Chatham sink- 
_ing in the House of Lords, is the noblest object in the Brit- 
ish empire; and Washington, crossing the Delaware at 
night, amid the crashing ice, fixes our attention in the 
midst of the dread magnificence of the winter scene, and 
we look upon him as we would upon an avenging arch- 
angel going forth to smite the invading army.” Such ap- 
peared Gov. Moreueap in the grand intellectual contest 
in the House of Commons of this State at the session of 
1858-9, when, the ablest and most eloquent men in that 
body for five days having attacked his plans of internal 
‘improvement and levelled their arguments, invective, ridi- 
cule and denunciation against him sé boldly and unmerci- 
fully that all thought him overwhelmed, he arose and for 
three days vindicated his plans and himself in the most 
powerful, withering, masterly, eloquent and triumphant 
argument, that ever fell from mortal lips. Nor was he 
less grand in the private walks of life. Unlike many of 
the a istinguished, nearness did not diminish the stature of 
his greatness. 

On retiring from the Presidency of the North Carolina 
Railroad Company, in his farewell address to the Stock- 
holders at this place, July 12th, 1855, he said in conelu- 
sion—words so thrilling I never have forgotten then— 


9 


66 IN MEMORIAM. 


“Living, I have spent five years of the best portion of m i 
life in the service of the North Carolina Railroad,—dying, 
my sincerest prayers will be offered up for its prosperity 
and its success—dead, I wish to be buried along side of it 
in the bosom of my own beloved Carolina!” That wish is” 
realized. He now sleepeth in the bosom of his own Caro-_ 
lina and beneath the sound of every engine which treads” 
majestically the iron-railway that runs near his graye. 
Though he is now no more to be seen among us, there 
stand all around us his monuments of renown, which are” 
calculated to perpetuate his genius and worth, to inspire 
the timid, to energize the weak, to inspirit the dejected, 
and to enthuse the cold and indifferent with a devoted 
and undying patriotism and a lofty State pride! 











SOCIAL REMINISCENCES 


OF 


JOHN M. MOREHEAD. 


By MRS. MARY BAYARD CLARKE. 


“A WOMAN reading after a man,” says some writer, “like 
a gleaner following in the wake of a reaper, will gather 
many a full ear from a field which he has reaped; and the 
erains of knowledge which she will thus pick up are often 
those which are most useful and desirable.” That it is 
sometimes the same when she writes after one, is the only 
excuse that can be oftered to the reader for laying before 
him these gleanings from the field reaped by the Hon. 
John Kerr, in his oration before the Bar of Rockingham 
county, on the life and character of the Hon. Joun M. 
MoreneaD. But, if these social reminisences of him shall 
garner one golden grain that might otherwise have been 
lost, they will not be uninteresting to the people of North 
Carolina. 

“T would not take ten dollars for that grip of the hand 
on the breast of his coat,” said one of his old friends to 
_ Goy. Morrnean’s daughter, when he first saw the portrait 
_ of her father by Mr. William,Garle Brown, who, with 
true artistic taste, had caught the Governor in one of his 
| favourite positions and transferred a lifelike portrait of 
| him to his canvass. And it may be the same with others, 
who, in this pen and ink sketch, will be pleased to find 
trifling anecdotes and incidents, as inappropriate in a fin- 

ished oration like Mr. Kerr’s, as the grip on the coat in 





Pas 


68 IN MEMORIAM. 




















portray Goy. MorrnEap addressing an audience, or t 
ing the oath of office, instead of representing him as 
appeared in every-day life to his family and friends. 
Mr. Kerr has shown the lawyer, the statesman, the fin 
cier, and the railroad prince; but there is another, and 
those who venerate his memory as that of a friend, a 
brighter side to Gov. MoreneEan’s character. Though 
eminently genial and pleasant in his social intercou 
with all, there was a modesty and reticence about hr 
that concealed from all but his intimate friends the almost 
womanly delicacy and tenderness of his disposition; quali- 
ties only displayed in that inner life of the affections of 
which mere acquaintances caught but a passing reflection 
A coarse or indelicate expression never fell from his lips, 
and, with all that knowledge of human nature which gen- 
erally characterizes the successful business man, he was yet 
singularly free from suspicion of evil, and seemed to guard 
instinctively against fraud and dishonesty, and not fr 
any fear of meeting with deceit in the person with whom 
he was dealing. Decision was a prominent trait of his 
character, he saw his way at a glance, and promptly a 
perseveringly pursued it until he attained his end. 
few of those who looked on him only as the shrewd fint 
cier and’ eminently practical man of business, who by | 
activity, or “masterly inactivity,” had built up a splendid 
fortune, ever thought of him as the polished scholar whose 
taste in the fine arts was as elegant as it was correct. 


He was always opposefl to sending Southern girls to be 
educated in Northern schools, and, that he might keep his 
_ daughters at home, founded the Edgeworth Seminary. 
spared no expense on it; the buildings and all appointm 
were in the best and most appropriate style ; the gro 
cultivated and adorned, and a corps of the best teac 
always employed. It was a benefit to the State, and s¢ 


HON. JOHN M. MOREHEAD. 


flourishing that it was generally thought to be one of his 
usual “ paying speculations ;” but this was not so, he never 
received even a fair interest on the money he invested in 
the buildings, and died a poorer, rather than a richer man, 
from wltat he expended on Edgeworth. But he was not 
disappointed ; he derived all that he had expected from it ; 
it was one of his luxuries, for it was thus that he indulged 
_ his tastes and enjoyed his money. He spent his money as 
he made it, profusely yet wisely, and seemed equally to 
enjoy the making and the spending. He was magnificent 
in all his views, yet always practical. If he builta chicken 
coop, it was a chicken palace, and an ornament to his 
grounds ; but it was also the best possible arrangement for 
' Securing the ends for which it was intended. He never 
sacrificed the useful to the ornamental, but so judiciously 
combined the two, that it was hard to suggest an improve- 
' Ment in anything which he had carefully considered and 
planned. 


_ Hehad a great love of beauty and elegance, was very 
fond of pictures and architecture, had a decided taste 
for drawing, and frequently regretted he could not sketch 
from nature. Edgeworth was always supplied with the 
_yery best teachers of painting as an accomplishment, as 
well as with the best instructors of music, of which he was 
passionately fond. A concert by the teachers of the school, 
assisted by the pupils, was one of his most agreeable 
‘Telaxations, for he not only enjoyed the pleasure of listen- 
‘ing to the music, but had the satisfaction of feeling that he 
had been instrumental in diffusing a knowledge of this 
delightful science among the young people of his State, 
W hich, to a mind like his, was quite as great a gratifica- 
‘tion. When a young man, he played well on the fiute 
himself ; but the best years of his life, as well as his latter 
“days, were so given up to business, that few but the friends 





70 _ IN MEMORIAM. 


















arts which he concealed under a jocosely affected iznoran ce 
of such matters. . 

On one occasion, when Mr. Badger was admiring an | di 
painting executed by one of his daughters, Mrs. Morehe: 
who had a quiet wife-like pride in her husband, remark 
as though fully accounting for its excellence, “ Letitia g 
her taste for painting from her father.” “Ah, thats 
always the way with you wives,” replied Mr. Badg 
“Your children are but looking glasses in which™ 
imagine that you see your husbands reflected. I d 
believe a word of it ; Morehead knows no more about pa’ 
ing than I do; he can tell when a picture pleases him, per- 
haps, just as he can tell whether he has had a good dinner, 
but he knows no more about painting one, than he do 
about cooking the other ;” then turning to Governor Mo: 
HEAD, he said, “‘am I not right, Governor, does not y 
daughter get her talent from her mother?” “ Certar 
she does,” was the prompt reply, and before Mrs. Mo. 
head could utter a disclaimer, he continued, “and she gets 
from her mother also, that patience and perseverance, 7 
cultivate a talent, without which the possession of it i S 
useless.” 


Though by no means the brilliant conversationalist that 
Mr. Badger was, Governor Morrnean had a pleasant wit, 
and told a story very effectively. He had a fund of anec- 
dote, and could toss back a repartee or a joke so as to 
keep a dinner table alive with merriment. His wit wa ; 
pre-eminently genial, although he had a keen sense of the 
ridiculous, he never allowed himself to ridicule any one, 
and could with unconscious power take off a charac 
without descending into the mimic. ven in his politi 
speeches, he seemed more desirous of winning the go 
opinion of his hearers to himself, than of exciting their 
animosity against his opponent, whom he treated as am 

antagonist in a fencing match, to be carefully guard ed 

























HON. JOHN M. MOREHEAD. 








against, and skilfully parried, and not as an enemy to be 
mortally wounded. His encounters were those of the tilt- 
yard rather than the battle field, and while he bore himself 
gallantly, he sought rather to disarm than to wound, to 
defeat than to destroy. He carried into the arena of poli- 
tics the courtesey of the Bar, and treated his opponent as 
he did the opposing counsel in a law case. 
His first canvass of the State was at a time of unusual 
_ political bitterness, which some times affected the social 
 cordiality that would otherwise have existed between per- 
sons well suited for intimacy. There was nota particle 
of thisin Gov. Moreneap. He once with great grav- 
_ ity, advised the daughter of a staunch Whig, “ never to 
marry a Democrat on any consideration whatever,”— 
and then with a merry twinkle in his eye added, “ unless 
_ he is a very clever fellow indeed, in which case, my dear, 
_ never let him pass.” The lady married a Democrat, and 
some years after was playfully rallied by Governor Swain, 
ata Chapel Hill commencement ball, for deserting the 
ranks of the Whig party and going over to the enemy. 
_ Turning to Gov. MorrHEap, who was present, the lady 
replied, “I did so, Governor, by the express advice of this 
great Whig champion.” 


_ “Ah, how’s that, Governor MoreHEap? Come into 
court, Sir, and anew to the charge of giving aid and conr 
fort to the enemy.’ 


| 

’ Gov. Morreneap replied, that he could not contradict 
a lady, but he really had no recollection of her having con- 

‘ sulted him in her love affairs. She related the charge he 

had given her, and appealed to Governor Swain to know 

; if she had not obeyed it. 

- “The court is against you, Sir,” replied Governor Swain, 

“and will hear your defence. What is it ?” 

_ “That in politics, as in religion, we should always select 

_ our very best, most intellectual and highly cultivated men 


IN MEMORIAM. 





and women, as missionaries to convert the heathen ; an¢ 
wish every youug Democrat had a good Whig wife, bent 
on converting her husband from his political errors.” 


forgive, or ignore all personal attacks made on him in # 
heat of political strife, was another characteristic of “| 
MoreneaD ; he not only felt no animosity himself, but 
overlooked it in other. When Col. John H. Wheeler wai 
elected Treasurer, a question of law arose as to the vob | 
ity of the bond he had given, and Governor MOoREnE: 
refused to accept it until the question was decided. 
Col. Wheeler was a Democrat, his party immedia 
asserted that there would have been no trouble had he 
been a Whig, and bitterly assailed this action of the Go v= 
ernor, who, however, stood firm, and had the matt 
brought before the Supreme Court, which decided in his 
favor. Among those who had been most active ate st 
Gov. Moreweap was Colonel Duncan K. McRae, who no 
sooner heard the decision of the court, than with an imp 
uosity characteristic of him, he walked straight to the 
Governor’s office, and with the frankness of a true gentle 
man and a generosity equally characteristic, held out. his 
hand and said, a 
“Governor, I have come to apologize for my remarks: 
respecting the course you have pursued with regard to. 
the Treasurer’s bond. I see now that you were right, and 
regret that in the heat of the moment I imputed your con 
duct to political motives only ; I beg leave, therefore, to 
retract what I said, and hope you will accept my apology y 
and my hand.” 4 bs 


Taking his offered hand in the spirit in whole it was 


fH extended, Governor Morsnuap replied: 


“Your words gave me no offence, Mr. McRae, for I 
knew they were uttered under a misapprehension of my 
motive; but your retraction of them gives me great plea- 






HON. JOHN M. MOREHEAD. 73 


sure, for it shows that the misapprehension on your part 
isremoved. You area younger man than I am, and have 
not yet learned that in politics, as in every thing else, it is 
best always to keep cool and take things easy.” 
Perhaps no man was ever more misunderstood by his 
political opponents, but every year more and more reveals 
the wisdom of his plans for the good of his State, and 
shows that they were not dictated by the selfish policy 
sometimes imputed to him. Those who cried out against 
the terminus of the Atlantic road being at Morehead City, 
and asserted that it was carried there because of the large 
bodies of land owned by Gov. MorgueEap at that point, did 
“not look far enough back, or they would have seen that 
he owned the land because he was convinced that the rail- 
road should, and eventually would, be run to that point, 
and did not run it there because he had first purchased 
‘these lands. An old sea-captain who lived in Beaufort, 
‘and whose property would have been greatly enhanced in 
value had the road run to that point, remarked, when 
some one regretted that it did not do so: 
“Gov. MorewEapD was striking for the best anchorage, 
and he hit it as true as if he had been bringing a vessel 
‘into this harbor for twenty years. Morehead City is the 
point for the terminus; vessels of any draught can lie 
right up at the wharf there, and they cant anywhere in 
Beaufort.” 
_ He never appeared to better advantage than in his own 
house. Hospitality was an instinct with him, and he 
would frequently bring guests in unexpectedly on his wife 
when she fancied her dinner was not worthy of them; but 
he always maintained that she never had a poor dinner, 
and when this did not satisfy her house-keeping pride, 
would add, “Well, Old Lady, the poorer your dinner is, 
the warmer let your welcome be;” and the guests at Bland- 














10 













74 IN MEMORIAM. 


wood were thus ever ee to feel that they gave as much 
pleasure as they received. 

Mr. Kerr speaks of Governor MoreHEAD’s love for 
younger brother, Mr. Abraham Morehead, who ¢ 
young, but not before he had given promise of being 
of North Carolina’s brightest stars. He was a classm 
in college of Henry W. Miller, Esq., who was much 
tached to him, and frequently spoke of his bright gen 
he was the author of several really fine poems; am 
others “The Hills of Dan,” and “The Mississippi a Vi 
similitude,” which last has received high praise fr 
more than one literary critic. Bishop Polk admired 1 
greatly, and gave it to General Albert Sidney Johns 
shortly after its publication, as a specimen of North C 
lina poetry. Some years after, General, then Col. J 
son of the Second United States Cavalry, spending 
evening with a North Carolina lady, regretted that in his 
many wanderings he had unfortunately lost this po 
She handed him a copy of “Wood Notes,” and pointin 
out, requested him to read it aloud, which he did, to the ad- 
miration of all present. Col. John Wilcox, a brother of 
Gen. Cadmus Wilcox, and a North Carolinian by b 
was present, and taking the book from General Johns 
hand, said, “Do you mean to tell me that this was ¥ 
ten by a brother of that man of iron, that personae 1 
of railroads, Joon M. Moreneap of ‘oe Carolina?” 


“Tf you had seen “that man of iron,” as you term hi 
Col. Wilcox, when I did, it would not surprise you to 
that he had written it himself,” replied General John 
“T travelled with him once through the mountains of 
ginia, and was struck with his enthusiastic admiratioi 
the scenery, and the vivid descriptions which he gave of 
beauties of that in Western North Carolina, and was not 
surprised when I discovered that he was the brother of the 
man who wrote the poem that I had admired so much.” ” 







































=P 
~ 


HON. JOHN M. MOREHEAD. 15 


This love of the beauties of nature characterized Gov. 


' MoreneEap to the day of his death. On being removed a 
| short time before he died to a more comfortable room than 
| that which he then occupied, he said to his physician, “ Ah 


Doctor, I have looked for the last time on that beautiful 


blue mountain.” 


He retained the vigor and clearness of his mind to the 
* last. A few days before his death, Mr. Wm. Southerlin, 
_ of Danville, Virginia, and some other gentlemen, went in to 
_ see him, and he conversed with such clearness on State im- 


provements, and showed such a depth and intimacy of 


_ knowledge, and such a grasp of mind, that they were ut- 


terly astonished, and Mr. Southerlin remarked, after leay- 
ing the room, “My God! is it possible, he can be in a dy- 
ing condition! he has laid out fifty years work for us in 
this conversation alone.” 


_ Americans have been accused, and perhaps justly, of an 


_ undue worship of “the Almighty Dollar;” but it should be 


remembered, that money is the one thing most needful for 
advancement in a country where hereditary rank is not 
recognized. In England the younger son of a peer of 
the realm stands a far better chance of getting a snug 
place in the gift of the government, than the son of a 
wealthy banker does. Such a fortune as that of the Roth’s 


‘childs will give its possessor weight anywhere, but a much 
less one, in a country where Wall street merchants are a 


political power, and money the lever which takes the place 
of rank, will enable him to occupy the same relative posi- 


| tion to that held by the great banker. This has made the 
| business men of America socially and intellectually supe- 


rior to those of any other country. In England business 


| men have their specialities and excel in them, but taken 


out of them are like an engine off the track; they run 


smoothly and swiftly in their appointed grooves, but out of 


them they jolt, jar and bungle. When they have acquired 


76 IN MEMORIAM. 


fortunes, or a competency, they retire from business, often 
in the prime of life, and live on their money. With us, on 
the contrary, the business man generally dies in harne 
he is at home among politicians and statesmen, for th 
were but what he is, and are but what he may become; | 
is at ease with the savant, and though his inferior in 
knowledge pertaining to his speciality, can listen } 
pleasure to, and derive information from, his conversatic 
the technicalities of science may be, and perhaps are, 
known to him, but he is not oppressed by his ignoran 
and though not a learned, is an intelligent listener. The 
well-educated business gentlemen, neither undervalues, n nor 
overvalues money; he regards it as a powerful lever in s 
ful hands, which become almost impotent in unskilful on 
it is to him the stream which may turn the machinery of a 
factory, or flow idly between its banks, beautifying 

landscape perhaps, and deepening the verdure of the ere 
upon its banks, but adding nothing to the prosperity 
the country. He will cheerfully bestow thousands in 
charity, or for the advancement of the arts and sciences, 
but he will not suffer himself to be defrauded of a doll 
or knowingly permit the waste of a shilling. Thou, 
cautious and careful in his money transactions, he may be Bi 
warm in his friendships, and tender in his affections; he 
exacts nothing from others that he is not willing to relia 
in return, and the same qualities which make him success 
ful in business, make him also a careful and provident fath- : 
er, watchful for the present comfort and future well-beim g 
of his children. Such a man was the Hon. Jonn Me 
MoreneapD, the financier and railroad prince of North 
Carolina. At the present day, when the shattered and 
poverty, stricken condition of our country imperatively 
calls on our young men to devote the whole energies of 
their mind and body to eminently practical pursuits, the 
contemplation of his character in all its aspects cannot but 


















i 


at 
. 
a 






HON. JOHN M. MOREHEAD. 


















be advantageous to them, by impressing on their minds 
the conviction that the man who is truly practical, and 
working with all his energies for the material welfare of 
himself, his family, and his State, may yet shine in the 
home and social circle as the elegant and accomplished 
gentleman. The necessity of earning their bread by the 
_ sweat of the brow at an age when under happier auspices 
they would still be at their studies, may prevent their be- 
coming finished belle-lettre scholars, but it need not pre- 
vent their acquiring a general knowledge of literature, 
and becoming polished gentleman. Mr. Kerr has given 
_ them a portrait of the lawyer, the politician, and the rail- 
road prince; this carte-de-visite likeness represents him as 
he appeared to his friends in the bosom of his family, and 
if those who thus knew him pronounce it a correct likeness, 
_ let those who did not, look first to one picture, and then to 
the other, before forming an opinion of him as a man. 










78 IN MEMORIAM. 


























TRIBUTE OF RESPECT. 
UNIversity oF NortH CAROLINA, 
DiaLectic Hatu, September 21st, 1866. 


The Dialectic Society has lost one of its most distin- 
guished and useful ornaments, by the death of the Ho 1] 
Joun M. MorewxEaD, who departed this life on the 27th 
ultimo, in the seventy-first year of his age. i 

Mr. MorREHEAD was a regular and most valued membei 
of this Society for more than fifty years. He was grad wu 
ated at this University in 1817, was for one year a Tut 
in the Institution, and soon after became one of its most 
active and efficient Trustees. Devoting his earlier man- 
hood to the profession of the law, he became the ables y 
advocate in the circuit in which he practiced. Asa pop 
lar orator, with power to sway the opinions and actions 
of men, he had few equals in the American Record. Twice 
elected to the office of Governor and called to many other 
public and valuable employments, he fulfilled them all with 
general acceptance and conspicuous usefulness to the co 
try and his native State. With a vigorous mind, an ener: 
getic and enterprising nature, and a natural control over 
men, the genius to project and power to execute the 
blest undertakings, he was equally distinguished ands 
cessful in the pursuits of a varied.and private business, 
in his patriotic and public career. Uniting with th 
characteristics of mind, the highest manly virtues, a che 
ful and buoyant spirit, a conformable and social temper, 
and attractive manners, he was in private and public lif i 
one of the most eminent characters to whom the State ha 
ever given birth. 


It is therefore resolved, That the members of this $0. 
ciety, deeply regretting the death of their fellow-member, 


HON. JOHN M. MOREHEAD. 79 


| Joun M. Moreueap, asa token of respect, the Hall of the 
| Society be draped in mourning for the term of thirty days. 
Be tt also further resolved, That a copy of these resolu- 
| tions be transmitted to the family of the deceased, and a 
copy filed in the Archives of the Society. 


A. W. RIEGER, 
J. R. STRAYHORN, > Committee. 
A. PHILLIPS, 


At the Annual Meeting of the Stockholders of the North 

_ Carolina Rail Road Company, held at Greensboro’, July 
| 12th, 1867: 
| Mr. Paul C. Cameron introduced the following resolu- 
tions, which were unanimously adopted: 
|  Wuereas, Since the last Annual Meeting of the Stock- 

holders of the North Carolina Rail Road Company, the 
death of the late Governor MoreneEap has occurred. In 
| token of our sorrow for his death, and sympathy for his 

family, be it 
_ Resolved By the Stockholders of the North Carolina 

Rail Road Company, in general meeting assembled, that 
as individuals, as share-holders of this Company, and as 
| citizens of the State at large, we heard at our homes, in 
| the month of August last, of the death of this eminently 
| useful, wise, and patriotic public man, with deep and sin- 
| cere sorrow; that in a review of his active and well spent 
life, considered either with reference to his individual en- 
terprise, or his enlightened and far-seeing public spirit, the 
death of such a man could not be regarded otherwise than 
a great loss; but falling.on us in the midst of the upheav- 
| ings of defeat and the disasters of a great civil strife, to 
us of North Carolina and of this Company, his death is 
felt as a great State calamity. 

Resolved, That whilst friendship and eulogy have per- 
_ formed their offices in setting out truthful and just por- 
| traits of the private worth and public services of this 
- great man and true hearted North Carolinian, by none 
can his merits be longer and better remembered than by 
us who had been accustomed to lean on his direction, and 


IN MEMORIAM. 


be directed by his wisdom, in the services of this Co 

ny, in his earnest industry in securing its charter, 1 
manly and untiring efforts to induce the doubting citi 
along its line to shoulder the enterprise, in his slee 
energy and zeal through all its dark days and early be 
nings, as its first President and chief builder, from which 
no factious opposition or false clamor could for an instan ; 
divert him from his great purpose to imbed in the soil of 
his native State, in his own day and under his own dir 
tion, “a great Central Trunk Rail Way,” as the best 
verance of her citizens from commercial and agricult 
bondage. 

Resolved, That from his early beginnings at the Un 
sity of the State, in which he sustained all the duti 
obligations of pupil, tutor, and trustee, with the hi 
proofs of his utilitarian capacity, as well as by his 
tions at the bar, and in the halls of legislation—befo 
great masses of the people and as their chief execu 
officer—as by his support of all the leading enterprise 
the day, which he sustained, not more by his persu 
eloquence than by his solid and liberal contributions, 
he stamp himself upon the times and the memory of 
fellow-citizens as a useful and practical man, equal to al 
position, and must be declared a public benefactor. — 

Resolved, That we tender to his bereaved wife and 
dren, the condolence of our sincere sympathy in the 
ful bereavement that they have been called to suffer in # 
loss of their wise and affectionate friend and provi 
guardian. 

Resolved, That the President of this Company be 
structed to issue to Mrs. Governor Morehead, a con 
mentary letter of Free Pass, inviting her and the mem 
of her immediate family to continue the use of this B 
during the remainder of her life. 

Resolved, That these resolutions be entered on thet 
utes of this meeting, and that they be published with 
annual report of the Company. 


1} 





HON. JOHN M. MOREHEAD. 


- PrepmMont Raitt Roap Company, 
Richmond, Va., September 13th, 1866. 
At a meeting of the Board of Directors, held this day, 

present, A. S. Buford, Esq., President; John R. Edwards, 
A. F. Harvey, A. Y. Stokes, Wm. T. Sutherlin, Directors: 
_ The President announced the death of Gov. MorEHEAD 
in appropriate remarks, and offered the following resolu- 
tions, which: were unanimously adopted : 


Resolved, That this Board have received with sensations 
| of profound sorrow the announcement of the recent death 
| of Hon. Joun M. Moreneap, a member of this Board. 
That the Board cannot forbear to express the deep sense 
of loss sustained by its members in this melancholy event, 
and desire hereby to record their high appreciation of the 
valuable and faithful service and sympathy so long ex- 
tended by the deceased to the interests of this Company, 
as well as of the other great public improvements to which 
he devoted so large a portion of his valuable life. 
| That the Board hereby desire to testify their sincere 
sympathy with those of his family and fellow-citizens, who 
are more immediately afflicted by his untimely death. 


The following resolution was offered by Maj. Wm. T. 
| Sutherlin, prefacing it with a few remarks on the distin- 
| guished services and eminent talents of the deceased, after 
| which the resolution was unanimously adopted. 


|  esolved, That as a testimonial of our high appreciation 
| of the exalted talents and eminent services of the Hon. 
| JOHN M. Moreneap, deceased, of North Carolina, in the 
construction of many of the most important railroads in 
his own State, but especially for the liberal views and un- 
' ceasing efforts for the past fifteen years, to obtain the 
charter from the Legislature of his native State for the 
_ construction of this Road, the depot nearest Greensboro’, 
N. C., and known as “Sepinaw” shall hereafter be known 
| and designated by the Company as “Morehead Depot.” 

_ _ Resolved, That a copy of the foregoing be furnished to 
| the family of the deceased, and also to the newspapers of 
his State for publication. 


| A copy from the minutes. 
E. A. BARBER, Secretary. 





t 


82 IN MEMORIAM. 























From the Raleigh (N. C.) Sentinel. ; @ 
THE LATE HON. JOHN M. MOREHEAD. — 


The telegraph announced, on yesterday, the death, on 
the day previous, at the Rockbridge Alum Springs, Vir- 
ginia, of the Hon. Joun MotLtey MoreHeEaD, of Guilford 
Previous information had admonished us of his precarious 
health, but we had not anticipated a fatal termination of 
his malady. The intelligence of his demise will cau 
general regret throughout this State, of which he — be 
so distinguished and useful a citizen. he 

Gov. MorEHEAD was born in Rockingham county, July 
1798, and was consequently, at the time of his death, in 
the 69th year of hisage. He was educated by Rev. Davie 
Caldwell, and graduated, in 1817, at the University. 
1821 he represented the County of Rockingham in the 
House of Commons; after which he removed to Guilford 
and represented that county in the Legislature of 1826 
1827. During all this interval, and up to the year 184 
he pursued the profession of the law,—practicing at the 
bar of his circuit with great success. a 

In 1840 he was the candidate of the Whig party for 
Governor, and was elected over the Hon. R. M. Saunders, 
and re-elected in 1842 over the Hon. Louis D. Henry. 
Both of those campaigns, from the ability and vigor with - 
which they were conducted, are the most memorable in 
the political history of the State. In the prosecution of 
them Gov. MoREHEAD acquired a reputation, as an effec 
tive and popular stump-orator, second to that of very few” 
men in the country. His administration as Governor of 
the State was characterized by unwearied industry, signal 
ability, and great acceptability to the people. To his ef 
forts and management, the former Common School system 
of the State was largely indebted for its inauguration and 
perfection. | 





HON. JOHN M. MOREHEAD. 83 


In 1848, Gov. Morrneap was President of the great 
Convention in Philadelphia, which nominated General 
Taylor for the Presidency. 


He was a member of the first Confederate Congress, and, 


throughout the progress of the late war, though strongly 
opposed to its inception, adhered to the fortunes of his 


State and section with a manly and unflinching fidelity. 

_ Few men, if any, have lived in North Carolina, who 
devoted themselves with greater assiduity, zeal and suc- 
cess, to the development of the material resources of the 
State. Perhaps the most active and influential of our citi- 
zens and capitalists in securing the charter of the North 
Carolina Railroad and the subscription to its stock, he 
was long its President, carrying to the discharge of the 
dutics of that office a rare executive talent and a practical 


“judgment that was seldom at fault in matters of business. 


He has been more or less identified, for the last twenty 
years and upwards, with all our works of Internal Im- 
provement, and with many of our mechanical and indus- 
trial enterprises, and contributed more to their general 
stimulation and success, it may with safety be asserted, 


than, perhaps, any other man in the State. In these re- 


 spects he did North Carolina distinguished service. 


Gov. MorEHEAD was for many years a Trustee of the 


‘University, and it was at the late Commencement of that 
Institution, deeply interested, as he always was, in the 


cause of education and in the success of the College, that 


we last met him,—in somewhat indifferent health, it is 
‘true, but with every reason to hope that his remarkably 
‘robust constitution would soon overcome the approaches 
of disease. 


In disposition and character Governor MorBHEAD was 


| genial, social and urbane. 


if 





His death deprives the State of a representative man,— 


of one who had filled a very large measure of usefulness, 


ar een 


84 IN MEMORIAM. 







ish his memory as a man of mark and a faithful pub 
vant, while the immediate community in which he: 
is called upon to deplore the loss of one of its most 
nent lights. It will not be slow in paying suitable t 
to his memory, and in recording its appreciation ¢ 
uncommon qualities. : 





